Bernie Sanders vowed to cooperate with a spectrum of interest groups to block the implementation of TPP trade deal.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders vowed to cooperate with a spectrum of interest groups to block the implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal in a Tuesday press conference.

"We are going to be working with environmental groups, with union groups, with our fellow members of the Congress," Sanders said as his strategy to block the TPP.

On Monday, negotiating parties representing the United States and eleven other nations finalized the TPP free trade deal. The US Congress must still vote on to approve or disapprove the deal by early 2016.

Sanders has publicly stated his strong opposition to the TPP. On Tuesday, he called the trade deal a "race to the bottom."

The new free trade deal will force US workers "to compete against people in low-wage countries all over the world who

are making pennies an hour," Sanders added.

The TPP agreement will open tariff free trade between the United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.

The trade talks have been ongoing for six years without public oversight. The details of the trade deal have not been made public.

The agreement is set to encompass a territory representing approximately 40 percent of global gross domestic product.