Will Trans-Pacific Partnership hold back new generic drugs?

People pass an advertisement in Washington, D.C., protesting the Trans-Pacific Partnership. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images)The Times' editorial board, which has long supported free-trade deals, sounded a note of caution Friday about the next one in the pipeline, the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

"The Obama administration's goal has been to persuade its trading partners to move toward U.S. standards in these areas, which tend to be more demanding than their own," the board wrote. "But it's important that the deal not undermine carefully crafted U.S. policies by advancing only selected parts of U.S. law.

So what should the public be looking for if and when the deal is completed? (Be…