The leaders of the United States and Japan say “they have made significant progress on the agriculture and auto issues that have blocked a huge Asia-Pacific trade deal following intense talks,” says Politico. Progress has snagged in part on Japan’s insistence of protecting five “sacred” sectors: rice, sugar, dairy products, wheat, and pork and beef. The bilateral disagreement threatened the goal of a Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact that would cover 12 nations and 40 pct of global economic output. Politico said there were “scant details” of the path forward.
“Today, we have identified a path forward on important bilateral TPP issues. This marks a key milestone in the TPP negotiations and will inject fresh momentum into the broader talks. We now call upon all TPP partners to move as soon as possible to take the necessary steps to conclude the agreement. Even with this step forward, there is still much work to be done to conclude TPP,” said the joint statement.
South Korea is the second stop on Obama’s four-nation Asia trip.