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 The U.S.-backed deal, which Washington had wanted to conclude this
year, aims to establish a free-trade bloc stretching from Vietnam to
Chile and Japan, encompassing about 800 million people and almost 40
percent of the global economy.
But differences over farm tariffs between the United States and
Japan have proved to be one of the major roadblocks and it will now
not be finalized this year.
"I think we're focused on trying to reach agreement among the 12
countries as soon as possible, but based on it being an ambitious,
comprehensive, high-standard agreement and we'll take whatever time
is necessary to do that, letting the substance of the negotiations
dictate the timetable," Froman told Reuters.
"There are a number of outstanding issues including state owned
enterprises, intellectual property rights, the environment, labor,"
he said in Beijing, where he was visiting for annual China-U.S.
trade talks.
"These are all issues that we've been devoting a lot of attention to
over the last four months to make sure that we come out with an
ambitious outcome," Froman said, adding there was no date or venue
yet for the next round of talks.
More far-reaching than other deals, the TPP pact is aimed at going
beyond tariffs on physical trade and it will try to regulate
sensitive areas such as government procurement and give companies
more rights to sue.
One problem area is the United States and Japan's disagreement over
Japan's long-stated aims to exempt five sensitive farm products — rice, wheat, beef and pork, dairy products and sugar — from the
scrapping of tariffs. The two countries held talks during a
four-day TPP meeting in Singapore this month on the issue but have
not come to any agreement.
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The TPP negotiations, which have run for three years, have been
mired in controversy over a lack of transparency, and slowed by the
conflicting interests of the negotiating countries, U.S. lawmakers
and advocacy groups.
The full list of those already in the talks is the United States,
Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei,
Vietnam, Chile, Mexico and Peru.
China said in May that it would study the possibility of joining the
talks, but has said little about it since.
Asked whether China could realistically join the TPP in the near
future, Froman said the United States and China had other issues on
their plate.
"I think the near term focus ought to be on addressing the wide
range of outstanding bilateral issues we have and exploring the
bilateral investment treaty as the next natural step in the
relationship," he said.
The United States and China agreed in July to restart stalled
negotiations on an investment treaty, with Beijing dropping previous
efforts to protect certain sectors of its economy from the start.
(Writing by Ben Blanchard; editing by Robert Birsel)
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