Talks between 12 Pacific Rim countries to create a tariff-free trade zone ended yesterday without a deal after the two biggest powers – the US and Japan – could not agree on allowing easier access to each other’s markets.

The stand-off over tariffs and other trade barriers between Washington and Tokyo has since late last year been holding up efforts to forge closer economic ties between a group of countries that account for 40 per cent of global gross domestic product, in part as a counter to China’s rise.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership aims to tackle the high regulatory and tariff barriers hampering trade flows between 12 countries, spanning the US, key Asian states and Latin America. But while ministers said progress had been made on some areas, there were still “gaps” on market access – a key sticking point ever since the TPP process began in 2011.