U.S.-Europe Trade Talks Hit by Shutdown

The U.S. has cancelled plans for a second round of negotiations on a major U.S.-European trade pact next week, citing financial and staffing difficulties related to the U.S. government shutdown.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman called European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht on Friday to tell him that the U.S. could not proceed with the talks, a statement from his office said. The statement said he told Mr. De Gucht that the shutdown made it “impossible” to send a full team of negotiators,” and that U.S. negotiators would work to create a new plan for talks once the U.S. government shutdown ends.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, is the largest bilateral free trade agreement ever negotiated. A first round of talks was held in July in Washington, D.C. Mr. Froman is currently in Bali, Indonesia, negotiating terms for the proposed 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

U.S. President Barack Obama had been scheduled to attend the APEC forum next week, and to visit Malaysia and the Philippines, but cancelled the trip due to the shutdown.