Good. TPP talks fail, again, as Tokyo and Washington continue to disagree on autos and food
President Obama's push for the TPP has failed yet again.
Japan and the United States failed to overcome persistent obstacles to the Trans-Pacific Partnership as their latest round of negotiations ended Wednesday without agreement.
Lack of progress by the two largest economies in the Trans-Pacific Partnership clouds a goal set by President Barack Obama of its 12 negotiating members reaching agreement by the time they meet for an unrelated summit in November.
“We were unable to make further progress on the key outstanding issues,” said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, referring to the agriculture and auto sectors, after two days of talks between economy minister Akira Amari and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in Washington.
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Washington had hoped to close a deal among the 12 countries when their leaders gather for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November in Beijing, but lack of progress in the talks with Tokyo means that can’t now happen, trade observers say.
TPP talks are already entering their fifth year. Washington regards the pact as central to its vaunted rebalance to Asia and is pushing for a substantial outcome before the U.S. midterm elections in November.
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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/09/25/business/tpp-talks-fail-tokyo-washington-continue-disagree-autos-food/#.VCP1elcnPfY
