A central element of Obama’s strategic shift towards Asia, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could accelerate global economic growth, boost U.S. exports and level the playing field between emerging and rich nations in one of the world’s biggest trade pacts, covering about one-third of global trade.

The White House had hoped to complete the deal, which aims to cut tariffs and set common standards on other issues, last year. But that didn’t happen and negotiators fly into Singapore on Saturday for three days of talks on the 12-country pact.

Significant challenges remain, including U.S. frustrations over Japanese protection of sensitive agricultural products, such as rice, and U.S. automakers’ fears of increased competition from Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office 14 months ago pledging to revive the world’s third-largest economy, has made the trade pact a key part of a growth strategy known as the “Third Arrow” of his “Abenomics” recipe. The other two “Arrows” are hyper-easy monetary policy and fiscal spending.

“Abe has told international society he would go ahead with TPP so he has to make progress,” said a Japanese official familiar with the matter. “It is not so easy to accept failure.”

Japan wants the United States to set a timeline for scrapping tariffs of 2.5 percent on imports of passenger cars and 25 percent on light trucks.

“The negotiations present extremely high hurdles for Japan, and considerable gaps remain between Japan and the U.S,” Economy minister Akira Amari, in charge of Japan’s delegation, told reporters on Friday before flying to Singapore. But he said Abe had told him to do his best to reach a deal.

An agreement between the United States and Japan would set the tone for the other countries engaged in the TPP: Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

China is consolidating its position as the largest trade partner with most Asian countries and its direct investments in the region are surging, albeit from a lower base than Europe, Japan and the United States.

@_MarkDalton
source — reuters