Trans Pacific Partnership

The 12 countries currently involved in the TPP negotiations are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam.

US-Japan market access

The question looming over the negotiations these past several months has been whether the US and Japan will be able to reach a bilateral deal on agricultural and automobile market access.

Despite repeated meetings between Washington and Tokyo officials, the two sides remain apart, ministers confirmed on Monday, though Froman stressed to reporters that there has been “substantial progress over the past several weeks.”

The protracted negotiations between the two largest economies in the 12-country talks have been widely blamed for slowing down the overall pace of negotiations, with other members reportedly hesitant to put too much on the table until it is clear whether a US-Japan deal is reached – and if so, what it would entail.

Officials from some other TPP members tried to dispel that notion last week, noting that the bilateral talks are necessary if the broader group-wide negotiations are to succeed.

RCEP with China, India

Despite not publicly announcing dates for either a ministers’ or leaders’ meeting, the fact that at least two major gatherings of regional leaders are scheduled for the next month – along with Obama’s call for a November result of some kind – have fuelled speculation that a TPP-specific leaders’ event may be forthcoming.

For instance, leaders from TPP countries will be present during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting in Beijing, China in early November, given that all TPP members are part of the 21-nation APEC group.

However, the fact that Beijing is hosting this year’s APEC event has sparked questions as to whether TPP leaders will indeed meet separately in the Chinese capital, given that China is not currently part of the 12-country negotiations.

While China is not in the TPP, it is involved in a separate regional integration initiative, known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which was launched in November 2012. Along with China, those negotiations include all ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, India, South Korea, and some TPP countries such as Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

Trade officials involved in the latter talks have suggested that the deal could be another pathway toward reaching a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific – though whether it would be complementary to, or in competition with, the TPP has sparked significant debate.