US and Japanese negotiators were working to resolve differences over agricultural and vehicle tariffs on Tuesday but both sides warned that they would struggle to agree a deal before Barack Obama arrives in Tokyo on Wednesday.

The US and Japan are keen to unveil an agreement over access to the agricultural and automobile markets during the first state visit to Japan by a US president since Bill Clinton landed in Tokyo in 1996.

The lack of an accord over these issues has held up efforts to finalise the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership, which sits at the top of the trade agenda for Mr Obama and his host, Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister.

… Deborah Elms, a TPP expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said growing opposition in places such as Malaysia and Chile, where a new government is reviewing the country’s involvement in the TPP, also presented risks. “It is very difficult to see how you are going to get this agreement done if you don’t get it done now,” she said.