Trade deals are a touchy topic these days, but approving the Trans-Pacific Partnership would create better, fairer conditions for small businesses as they compete internationally, President Obama said.

In honor of National Small Business Week, the president participated in a conference call Friday hosted by BusinessForward, an organization that represents the views of business owners on public policy.

“2015 was a record year for our small businesses,” the president said, “and there’s a lot more we can do to keep this momentum going.”

The trade deal, which includes 11 other countries on the Pacific Rim, would do away with about 18,000 taxes that other nations apply to U.S. goods. Microbreweries, for example, face a 35 percent tax when they export to Vietnam. TPP would clear away that tax.

TPP also gives the United States the opportunity to help write the rulebook for trade, the president said. The alternative is to cede leadership to China, which hopes to enact a competing trade pact with several countries by the end of the year. That deal doesn’t have as many protections for intellectual property and other U.S. priorities, Obama said.

TPP is currently awaiting approval from Congress.

The president acknowledged that other trade deals over the past 20 to 30 years haven’t always done a good job protecting U.S. workers. “But that’s not this deal,” he said.