Monday evening’s Asahi, Yomiuri, and Nikkei wrote that Trade Minister Seko told reporters following the conclusion of a ministerial meeting of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) that was held on Sunday in Manila that it appears very difficult at this point to reach an agreement by the end of this year. The papers wrote that the 16 nations participating in the negotiations were unable to narrow their differences on the elimination and reduction of tariffs.