The lack of a deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership at the end of key ministerial talks in Hawaii comes as a harsh blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has promoted free trade as key to his growth strategy for shoring up Japan's economy after years of deflation.

And further delays in the already prolonged negotiations on the TPP — touted as the most ambitious trade pact in a generation — is likely to adversely affect Japan's efforts to secure other large-scale free trade agreements, trade observers say.

The tariff-cutting TPP, if realized, will bind together some 40 percent of global output in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region.