Trans-Pacific Partnership

The dark green represents countries currently negotiating the TPP, while the light green represents countries who have expressed interest in joining the TPP.
The dark green represents countries currently negotiating the TPP, while the light green represents countries who have expressed interest in joining the TPP.

 

It is predicted that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, which is led by the United States, is unlikely to be concluded within this year. 

On December 10, Kyodo News and the Financial Times quoted an anonymous source as saying that the TPP agreement is expected to be signed in the first half of next year at the earliest, during US President Barack Obama’s state visit to Asia scheduled for April. 

In the meantime, the 12 countries participating in the discussions wrapped up their working-level negotiations in Singapore on December 10. 

Kyodo News reported that tariff and intellectual property rights are the biggest roadblocks for now, and more talks are required to coordinate the opinions as to the issues surrounding the environment, state-run enterprises, government procurement, etc. 

According to the news agency, the US and Japan still have different views on the tariffs on agricultural products and automobiles.

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