No Pacific Rim Accord by End-of-Year Target, Trade Negotiators Say

The United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations said they would not complete a sweeping deal to reduce trade barriers by their own end-of-year deadline. But participants in the latest talks, held in Singapore, expressed optimism about the prospects for the trade deal, one of the largest ever negotiated.

The 12 ministers working on the Trans-Pacific Partnership said they had found potential “landing zones” for many of the remaining disagreements, which involve intellectual property and agricultural products, among other issues. A strong deal “is critical for creating jobs and promoting growth, providing opportunity for our citizens and contributing to regional integration and the strengthening of the multilateral trading system,” the ministers said. “We have decided to continue our intensive work.”