Japan likely to miss most of July TPP trade talks

Japan is likely to miss most of the next round of Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations in July as it is being arranged to start before the country becomes the 12th member of the talks, a senior Malaysian government official said Friday.

The 18th round is set to be held July 15 to 24 in Kuala Lumpur, while Japan waits for the United States to complete its 90-day notice to Congress around July 24 to officially admit it as a new member of multilateral talks for creating one of the largest free trade zones in the world.