Vietnam will not include ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on its agenda for its next parliament session, adding to uncertainty over the future of US President Barack Obama's signature trade deal.
As arguably the biggest beneficiary of the deal covering 40 per cent of the global economy, Vietnam was expected to be among the first to ratify the TPP, the prospect of which helped spur record foreign investment last year in its booming manufacturing sector.
"TPP will not be on the assembly's agenda because the government's proposal is not completed," a parliament source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The delay means that at the earliest, ratification by Vietnam would be several months after November's US presidential election.
Negotiations were completed last year for the TPP, dubbed a "mega-regional accord", to create a trading zone of 12 members with a combined $US27 trillion ($A36 trillion) gross domestic product (GDP).
It seeks to raise standards and challenge China's economic influence, and debate in the United States has caused jitters among some of its members, which include Australia as well as Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Canada and Mexico.
