Despite their aim for a final outcome later this year, negotiators from the 12 countries engaged in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks did not achieve any major breakthroughs in recent meetings.

Chief negotiators recently completed 10 days of talks and continued to narrow the options for resolving myriad of difficult policy issues. Final decisions on the major policy questions at stake, however, will require action by trade ministers at the national political level.

Looming over current assessments is a continuing lack of any hard information about the substance of the ongoing U.S.-Japan bilateral negotiations on agricultural market access. The most recent meetings this week between the two countries resulted in only “limited progress,” clouding the prospects of their pledge to disclose the details by October.

Trade officials speculated that another round of negotiations will take place in mid-to-late October in an effort to concluding the TPP negotiations as soon as possible. No mention was made, however, about the November target set by U.S. President Barack Obama for producing a substantial outcome in the talks.

Complicating the effort is lack of the trade promotion authority (TPA), which must be passed by the U.S. Congress and which many feel is necessary before countries involved in trade negotiations with the U.S. will make the necessary concessions to reach consensus on a high-level comprehensive agreement. TPA assures partner countries that trade agreements will pass Congress without unexpected amendments.

The U.S. Grains Council continues to monitor the negotiations carefully, communicate with U.S. trade negotiators and, as in several previous negotiating sessions, participate in the remaining rounds with other U.S. agricultural groups, particularly as final decisions come into play.