Delegates negotiating a vast Pacific free-trade agreement failed to reach a final deal on Friday after several days of intense talks in Hawaii in a setback for US President Barack Obama.
However, US Trade Representative Michael Froman, in a statement on behalf of the 12 countries involved, said that “significant progress” had been made on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, the most ambitious trade deal in decades.
The negotiators were “more confident than ever that the TPP is within reach,” he said, adding that the Pacific Rim countries involved would continue to have bilateral discussions to try and iron out their remaining differences.
The press conference was delayed by several hours as the countries — including the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Canada — attempted to thrash out a deal in what had been billed as the home straight, in talks that reportedly went deep into the night.
The failure by trade ministers to get the accord over the line on Friday are a blow to Obama — who has faced opposition to the deal from fellow Democrats — as it could see the TPP become campaign fodder with the US facing elections in November next year.
The 12 countries involved have faced criticism for carrying out their negotiations in what opponents have charged is a high level of secrecy.
Its many critics said the proposals indicate a deal moving more toward protection than free trade; one more about corporate benefits than boosting economies and development.
However, backers say the modern global economy needs a new framework of rules to protect intellectual property-dependent 21st century industries that are not covered in traditional free-trade pacts such as the WTO.
Trade ministers were keen to talk up the positives.
“Good progress was made this week, but a number of challenging issues remain, including intellectual property and market access for dairy products,” New Zealand Minister of Trade Tim Groser said in a statement, touching on two of the outstanding sensitive issues.
Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Akira Amari told reporters it would take another ministerial-level meeting to get the deal done.
“According to my understanding, it is our common view that we will hold a meeting by the end of August,” Amari said, according to public broadcaster NHK. “If we can’t conclude it next time, it’s going to be very hard.”
Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb said they were “on the cusp,” with “provisional decisions on more than 90 percent of issues.”
The other countries involved are Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
Several prickly issues were believed to have held up the talks this week on the island of Maui, prime among them differences over agricultural markets, auto trade and protection for drug makers.
Also covered in the vast proposed pact are better copyright protection, workers rights and environmental protection.
“No deal means the TPP is thrown into the political maelstrom of the US presidential cycle,” Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch director Lori Wallach said in a statement.
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