Trade ministers from countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership could meet again within weeks after talks broke down over the weekend.
Andrew Robb, Australia's representative at the talks says there are just a few big issues left to resolve in the landmark 12-nation trade deal.
There was disappointment and some anger among ministers meeting in Hawaii last week that the talks had stalled.
"I'm confident within a few weeks we will reconvene and it's really a question of how much legwork is done in the interim to try and resolve a couple of the big issues," the trade minister told ABC radio.
"It just needs some movement in many respects by the US on a couple of big issues and we would be there."
Mr Robb said it appeared the Obama administration had made commitments to the US Congress in order to fast track talks and the result was American hands were tied when it came to the actual negotiations.
Nevertheless, he is still optimistic about the mega-deal, saying countries agreed on about 90 per cent of issues.
On Australia's sticking points, Mr Robb felt there had been progress towards exempting health and environmental policies from clauses that allow companies to sue foreign governments.
The US had been coming around to Australia's position on how long to protect data for biologic medicine patents, he said.
Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said the failure to conclude the TPP was disappointing, but it reinforced the importance of ratifying the FTA with China.
"This is a huge opportunity for Australia, and it is essential it gets passed in the Senate with the safeguards the government has included, and with appropriate transparency and resourcing for compliance and enforcement," she said in a statement.
"It is vital that public debate around the agreement is well informed and not driven by a mischievous and inaccurate advertising campaign by the unions."
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