Negotiators failed to reach agreement on the Trans Pacific Partnership in Maui this weekend, and no date has been announced when talks might resume, reports Politico.
While negotiators insist they made progress on many issues, key disagreements remain. The hang-ups were many: Canada’s intransigence over its dairy quotas, the U.S. over pharmaceutical patents, Japan over autos.
What complicates the calculus is that failure to reach an agreement now means the trade pact will become political fodder during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. If that happens, all bets are off on whether any agreement could pass in the U.S. Senate.