Pacific trade ministers wrapping up talks at Hawaii resort

But issues pegged as sticking points going into the talks were still blocking a deal after four days of discussions.

“Australia had made some excellent progress but unfortunately some hard issues were not resolved”, a spokesperson for Robbs said. This is the first formal round of talks since the U.S. passed the controversial Fast Track trade legislation in June, which has given U.S. negotiators a renewed sense of determination as they continue to push TPP’s corporate-driven mandate on intellectual property and digital regulations. He did not speculate as to when it would conclude.

A spokesman for Canada’s global trade minister says Prime Minister Stephen Harper will only sign an agreement that’s in Canada’s best interests.

“I think what everybody would agree is that once the writ is dropped, that without a TPP deal, the Conservatives’ bargaining position certainly is weaker”, NDP trade critic Don Davies said. And their gathering has attracted protesters opposed to the trade treaty.

Not enough “ambition” on dairy?

Talks were expected to go late into the night on Friday in a last-ditch effort before a press conference planned to mark the end of the talks at 9.30am Australian eastern time.

The major New Zealand dairy lobbies have written to Groser saying farmers and consumers are suffering as a result of the “decades of blatant protectionism” which have placed constraints on New Zealand’s access to the global dairy market.

While the dairy dispute isn’t the only barrier, it is one of the most complex. For Japan, a focus of negotiations had been how long the U.S., Canada and Vietnam would take to remove the tariffs.

CCTV America’s Sean Callebs filed this report from Washington.

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has repeatedly said Canada will not be “bullied” into making concessions on agriculture.

Sugar is also on the short list of highly sensitive commodities.

“The US has abandoned its previous commitments to protect health in its trade policy”, said Rius. TPP offered another run at opening things up.

The TPP, as it’s called, is now being negotiated on Maui, Hawaii by politicians trying to establish a basis for trade among the 12 Pacific Rim countries at the table, as well as others like India, China and the Philippines who may join later. “Basically we have to get more access”. They also fear that the agreement will include our unusually tough rule on the introduction of new generic drugs without other U.S. provisions that help generic drug makers.

Last year, Ottawa inked a deal with the European Union allowing 18,500 tonnes of cheese to enter Canada tariff-free.

The U.S. has been demanding that Japan increase the U.S. quota to 175,000 tons.

With regard to investments, another area that has been a stumbling block, a new system will likely be introduced under which companies can demand compensation from the governments of countries in which they have invested if they were to suffer from irrational regulation revisions or other actions.