Obama faces headwinds on Trans-Pacific Partnership in East Asia trip

As US President Barack Obama embarks on a four-nation Asian tour, his effort to push the economic side of the US "rebalancing" towards the Asia-Pacific faces hurdles.

Negotiations with Japan on a 12-nation transpacific trade liberalisation deal are bogged down, while support for it is waning in Malaysia, which could pull out altogether under pressure from business concerns.

Analysts say the negotiations, which are already behind schedule, run the risk of a collapse if no major agreement is reached in the next few months.

On the eve of the US president's arrival, Japan's economy minister, Akira Amari, said negotiators from both countries had failed to reach a basic agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) despite days of last-ditch efforts. Amari said the two sides remained "at a considerable distance" over trade in farm products and vehicles.

An agreement between Japan and the United States is seen as particularly critical to finalising the nearly four-year-old negotiations, which involve 12 Pacific Rim countries - but not China, the world's second-biggest economy - which are together responsible for 40 per cent of global economic output.

Washington hopes to use the deal to add economic flesh to its otherwise security-focused "rebalancing" towards the Asia-Pacific - a strategy that aims to increase its presence in the region as China's clout grows.