Trans-Pacific divisions come to the fore

Last week, trade ministers of 12 Pacific Rim countries, 650 officials, lobby groups and other stakeholders met in Hawaii to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. But the talks failed.

The disagreements in Hawaii do not suggest traditional horse-trading that's typical to all trade bargaining. Rather, the divisions reflect extensive disagreements not only between a dozen TPP countries, but within the US as well.

In the White House, the TPP agreement has been seen as a linchpin of the administration's pivot to Asia, which seeks to embed the US more deeply in the world's most dynamic region, while preventing a "regional vacuum" to be filled by emerging China. The problem is that the first objective is undermined by the second.