U.S., Japan unlikely to wrap up trade deal by May TPP talks: Japan official

By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan and the United States have found “common ground” to forge a two-way trade deal, but may not be able to resolve remaining sticking points in time for a mid-May meeting of top negotiators seeking a broad regional deal, a senior Japanese official said. Marathon talks during U.S. President Barack Obama’s state visit to Tokyo last week yielded progress – hailed by the two sides as a “key milestone” – but the two sides stopped short of announcing a deal vital to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation bloc that would extend from Asia to Latin America. The upbeat tone, however, was a contrast to the emphasis on “gaps” after previous rounds of talks on a bilateral deal that has been stalemated by differences over access to Japan’s agriculture market and both countries’ car markets. “What Obama’s visit produced after many lengthy negotiations was a common ground on which the two sides believe we can continue to work to find a mutually acceptable solution,” the senior Japanese official told Reuters.