The United States and 11 other nations negotiating a free trade zone stretching from Chile to Japan failed to reach a final agreement at talks in Singapore, but indicated they were closing in on a landmark deal, AP reported. After four days of meetings in Singapore, ministers issued a statement Tuesday saying that "substantial progress" had been made on finalizing the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It said that they had identified "potential landing zones" for most of the outstanding issues and would meet again next month. Negotiators are aiming to reduce tariffs on goods and services to close to zero. Any deal would encompass around one-third of world trade and 800 million people. Proponents say it should lead to greater economic growth. The block's 12 countries negotiating the TPP are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.
