US, Japanese Fail to Yield Breakthrough in TPP Market Access Negotiations

The U.S. and Japan will continue to negotiate in the coming weeks on agricultural market access in the Trans-Pacific Partnership following two days of talks between Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Wendy Cutler and senior Japanese trade negotiator Hiroshi Oe in Washington, D.C. The next summit is scheduled for Aug. 4-5 in Washington, D.C., said the Office of the USTR in a statement. The statement said the two officials made progress in narrowing negotiating gaps, but did not announce any significant breakthrough. The Obama administration has publicly called for comprehensive elimination of agriculture tariffs in the agreement, but many analysts and lawmakers argue that's unlikely (see 14060404). Japanese officials are still protesting tariff elimination on more than 500 tariff lines, according to the most recent public updates.