Documents disclosed by WikiLeaks add to doubts over US-led Pacific Rim trade deal in 2013

Published January 13, 2015

A document from secret U.S.-led trade talks published by WikiLeaks is revealing rifts that add to doubts over whether the dozen nations involved will manage to finalize a deal by the end of the year as planned.

Officials in Asia refrained from commenting on the document that anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks published Wednesday. The negotiating document from late August outlines the status of talks on intellectual property protections, one of the most contentious areas of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks.

The 95-page document is peppered with bracketed initials showing the stances of countries on details of the agreement, suggesting that back then, they remained far apart.

With just over six weeks left in 2013, U.S. lawmakers are raising objections to granting President Barack Obama authority to negotiate such a wide-ranging agreement.

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