Pacific trade ministers readied on Wednesday to close the biggest trade deal in a generation but warned there was still work to be done on issues ranging from intellectual property to trade in dairy and automobiles.
Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb said ministers from the 12 countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) detailed outstanding issues at a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, and pledged to try to close the deal this week.
"All the participants were genuine about coming here to conclude," he told Reuters after the plenary session on the TPP, which would cut trade barriers and set common standards for 40 percent of the world economy.
"There's an intent there. We are now swapping different versions of possible outcomes, but we have got a lot to do," he said.