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Obama-Abe summit to aid trade talks, not seal deal: U.S. official

19 April 2014 03:44 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Next week's meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a good opportunity to give impetus to Pacific trade negotiations but will not seal a deal, a senior U.S. administration official said on Friday, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Talks between the United States and Japan seen as vital to a broader regional trade pact had narrowed to a few critical areas and will resume again on Monday, officials of both countries said, as negotiators hustle to prepare for Thursday's summit.

Breaking a U.S.-Japan deadlock over access to Japan's farm and auto markets is seen as key to finalising the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation trade bloc that would stretch from Asia to Latin America.

The TPP is central to Obama's policy of expanding America's presence in Asia and Abe, for his part, has touted the TPP as a main element of his strategy to reform the world's third-largest economy and generate sustainable growth.

When the leaders meet, they are likely to review progress so far on the trade talks and give some impetus to negotiators to move on to the next stage, the senior official said.

But they would not get into the details of tariffs on sensitive products such as beef, pork, rice and sugar, and would not conclude an agreement, he said, adding the talks were part of an ongoing effort to agree an ambitious, comprehensive deal.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari wound up a 20-hour negotiating session earlier on Friday with major gaps still on display.

"We still have big differences," Amari told reporters in Washington before he left for Tokyo, according to Kyodo news agency, although he said "the gaps are getting smaller."

The USTR said in a statement: "We continue to make progress, and we are now faced with a reasonable number of outstanding issues. These issues are important to both sides and considerable differences remain."