Sept. 28, 2015—Senior officials from the U.S., Japan and 10 other countries around the Pacific will meet next week in Atlanta in another attempt to finish a wide-ranging trade agreement designed to lower border barriers and boost economic growth.
The previous high-level negotiations, two months ago on Hawaii’s island of Maui, ended without a deal, with the talks souring over the dairy trade, automotive manufacturing and intellectual-property protection for drugs. The failure to reach an agreement in Maui pushed the efforts to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, deep into political campaign seasons in Canada and the U.S.
“Trade ministers and negotiators last met in July and have been making good progress toward resolving the limited number of outstanding issues,” the U.S. trade representative’s office said in a statement. Top negotiators will gather Saturday in Atlanta, with trade ministers joining them on Wednesday in another effort to strike a deal, according to the statement.
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