Negotiators of the 12-nation Trans-

Negotiators of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact said yesterday they would miss a year-end deadline to complete the deal.
“We identified potential landing zones for the majority of key outstanding issues in the text,” U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told reporters after four days of talks in Singapore, reading a joint statement from ministers and delegation heads. “We intend to meet again next month,” he said, with market access issues yet to be resolved.
Talks on the TPP, which would link an area with about $28 trillion in annual economic output, have faced differences over issues from agricultural tariffs to intellectual property. Leaders from the U.S. to Malaysia and Japan must also deal with opposition to the pact from lawmakers at home, an obstacle that will have to be overcome once the agreement itself is finalized.
No new timeline has been set to reach an agreement on the TPP, a pact that goes beyond usual trade deals that focus on tariffs and traditional goods such as agriculture. It would establish rules for digital commerce and include environmental standards and protection for companies that compete against government-backed businesses.
We had various bilateral talks and of course everybody understands that there are sensitivities for each country,” said Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan’s Deputy Economy Minister, speaking through a translator to reporters. Economy chief Akira Amari missed the talks after being diagnosed with early stage tongue cancer.
We have been making necessary adjustments and coordination and deepened our discussion,” Nishimura said. The U.S. made progress with Japan in talks on automobiles and insurance, and still has more work to do on cars and agriculture, Froman told reporters.
The delay in concluding the TPP complicates the Obama administration’s so-called pivot to Asia, already dogged by tensions with China over the East and South China Seas. President Barack Obama sent Secretary of State John Kerry in his place on a four-nation trip to Asia in October as he dealt with a partial government shutdown at home. He plans a trip to the region in April.
The countries in the pact are the U.S., Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. China, which has been excluded from the TPP, is separately moving on trade talks with countries such as South Korea, Japan and Australia.