The 12 countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact have set four deadlines for reaching a consensus on eliminating tariffs, aiming for a basic agreement by the end of October, negotiation sources said.
Under the four-stage timetable, all TPP countries except Japan are required to put 75 percent of their respective tariff lines on the negotiation table by Aug. 16, 90 percent by Aug. 30, 95 percent by Sept. 20 and 100 percent by the end of October, the sources said.
Japan is expected to be given some leeway in meeting the deadlines in view of its late entry into the negotiations, according to the sources. Japan joined the TPP process last month, at the tail end of the latest round of talks.