Efforts to conclude the framework for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement ended in failure Saturday, with negotiators unable to bridge differences over issues ranging from pharmaceutical patents to expanded imports of agricultural, and particularly dairy, products.
The latest round of talks in Hawaii between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam had been called a make or break moment for the controversial pact due to concerns over the U.S. political calendar.
Without even the broad outlines agreed to, and despite discussions among members to meet again later this month, TPP proponents are growing worried a final deal will not reach the U.S. Congress for deliberations before next year, and risk being delayed until after the 2016 presidential election, placing its ultimate passage in further doubt.
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