Los Angeles, CA – Momentum is reportedly building toward the successful drafting of  Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement by the end of the year.

Talks between representative of the 12 nations involved have resumed in Sydney, Australia, with Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb, host of the current round of talks, telling the media that reports from attending trade ministers convey that “there does seem to be a real head of steam.”

All signs, he said, point to a trade agreement being forged “by the end of the year.”

If agreed upon, a TPP, which has been negotiated for several years, would encompass 40 percent of the global economy and hundreds of billions of dollars in goods and services trade.

According to US Trade Representative Mike Froman, trade ministers had been in “almost constant” talks since the last TPP meeting in Singapore in May.

“We are enjoying a great deal of momentum and focus across the board, and it’s up to us to seize that momentum and make sure that this meeting is maximally productive,” he said.

Over the past year, talks slowed while the Washington and Tokyo ironed out several key ‘sticking points’ including Japanese tariffs on agricultural imports and access to Japan’s auto market for US-made vehicles.

“The issues left at the end are often times the most challenging but now is the time to start working through those and finding solutions,” Froman said, adding the TPP “is within our grasp.”

The 12 prospective TPP members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the US.

10/27/2014