Japan, U.S. tiptoe into new phase of Pacific trade talks

By Krista Hughes WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and Japan are edging into a new phase of trade negotiations after U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s summit, people with knowledge of talks to create one of the world’s biggest trade pacts said. Talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation bloc which would span 40 percent of the world economy and extend from Asia to Latin America, have been deadlocked as the United States and Japan stared off over farm and auto exports. Briefing reporters on the president’s plane from Japan, a senior U.S. official said negotiators set the parameters for agreement on Japan’s sensitive sugar, beef, pork, rice, dairy and wheat sectors, involving which trade barriers to eliminate, which to reduce, and over which time period. “There are these parameters, and there are trade-offs among parameters.