Nov 8 (Reuters) - Japan's Economy Minister Akira Amari said on Saturday he saw progress in Asia-Pacific regional trade negotiations, although it would be difficult to reach an agreement by the end of the year, according to Jiji press. Trade ministers from the 12 nations participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact held talks on the sidelines of an annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) meeting in Beijing.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) offers an opportunity for the United States to increase trade with 11 other countries. Completing the agreement will create the largest free trade area, in terms of both goods and services, in which the United States participates.

While Japanese and U.S. officials expect little change in the U.S.-Japan relationship following Tuesday’s midterm elections, experts are divided on what a Republican-controlled Congress means for Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and, ultimately, for reaching a deal before the 2016 presidential election.

The race is on between the United States and China to dominate the rules-setting game for trade by being the first to be able to announce plans for a free trade area in the Pacific Rim. China hopes to use its position as chair of APEC this year to propose that a feasibility study on a Free Trade Agreement for the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), first mooted in 2006, be pursued. In other words, negotiations towards an FTAAP would commence, for all practical purposes.

Are the stars aligning for both passage of a trade promotion authority bill by Congress and approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement?

While President Barack Obama has indicated that he would press for congressional approval for Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) renewal as an aid in current United States trade agreement negotiations, House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D – Michigan) has stressed the need to continue to focus wholly on those negotiations.

Negotiators from the 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) member countries are in Washington this week to move this landmark agreement closer to completion. We are almost there – you could say we are in the “red-zone” of the negotiations. Let’s hope the negotiators can do what the Redskins couldn’t – and put some points on the board.  

During a hearing Tuesday, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was questioned at what point does the U.S. decide to conclude the Trans Pacific Partnership talks without Japan because of its insistence on maintaining its desire to exclude sacred commodities. Vilsack replied he still believes there is a “pathway to a solid, quality high standards agreement that includes Japan.”

We, the Ministers and Heads of Delegation for Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam have completed our three-day ministerial meeting to lay the groundwork for the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement negotiations.  Our meeting followed a week of officials’ level discussions in Canberra, from 19-24 October 2014.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) wants assurances that a Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal will not push up medicine prices. Federal Trade Minister Andrew Robb is hosting talks with 11 counterparts in Sydney this weekend, as progress towards a multi-lateral trade deal inches closer. If it is signed, the TPP agreement would cover 40 per cent of the global economy, and include countries like the United States, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Peru, Chile and Australia.