(VOVworld) – US President Barack Obama on Wednesday expressed optimism that a Trans-Pacific Partnership deal can be reached before the end of the year, despite disputes over rules for key sectors.


He told business leaders at the Business Roundtable in Washington that trade ministers should be meeting again sometime in the next few weeks, and have the opportunity to close the deal.
Already eight years in the making, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would make up a huge bloc encompassing 40 percent of global trade. TPP negotiators are preparing a ministerial meeting later this month or early next month in the US.
The biggest obstacle now are the differences between Japan and the US over taxation on agricultural and automobile products.