Negotiations on a sweeping free trade pact
between the US and the EU have been postponed
because of a partial government shutdown in
America.
US officials had been due in Brussels next week to
discuss the deal aimed at boosting bilateral ties.
US President Barack Obama earlier cancelled his trip to
Asia because of the shutdown.
The US government closed non-essential operations on
Tuesday after Congress failed to agree a new budget.
Since then hundreds of thousands of government
employees have not been working or paid.
'Unfortunate'
On Friday, US trade representative Michael Froman
informed the EU that financial and staffing constraints
made it impossible to send a full negotiating team to
Brussels.
But he stressed that Washington would continue
working with the EU on drawing up the deal, but would
have to wait until the shutdown was over.
Reacting to the US announcement, European Trade
Commissioner Karel De Gucht said the delay was
unfortunate.
"But let me underline that it in no way distracts us
from our overall aim of achieving an ambitious trade
and investment deal," he added.
Meanwhile, the White House said that Mr Obama would
miss two summits in Asia, including the Asia-Pacific
Economic Co-operation (Apec) meeting in Indonesia.
It said the decision was made due to the "difficulty in
moving forward with foreign travel in the face of a
shutdown".
Mr Obama called Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono on Friday and expressed his regret over the
cancellation, Indonesian presidential spokesman for
foreign affairs Teuku Faizasyah told the BBC.
The visit had not been rescheduled, the spokesman
added.
Secretary of State John Kerry will attend the Apec
gathering and the East Asia summit in Brunei in Mr
Obama's place, the White House said.
President Obama had been due to begin a four-nation
Asian trip on Saturday, heading to Bali and Brunei
before travelling on to Malaysia and the Philippines.
The US government partially shut down operations on
Tuesday after Republicans who control the House of
Representatives refused to approve a budget, saying
they would only do so if Mr Obama's healthcare reform
law was delayed or stripped of funding.
Mr Obama and the Democrats have refused, noting the
law was passed in 2010, subsequently approved by the
Supreme Court, and was a central issue in the 2012
election which Mr Obama won comfortably.
On Friday, Democrats and Republicans appeared no
closer to finding a way out of the impasse.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner insisted Mr
Obama and Democratic Senate leaders open
negotiations on the shutdown.
"All we're asking for is to sit down and have a
discussion," he said. "This isn't some damn game."
Mr Obama later said he was happy to hold talks with
the Republicans, "but we can't do it with a gun held to
the head of the American people".
"This shutdown could be over today," he said. "We
know there are the votes for it in the House of
Representatives. If Speaker Boehner will simply allow
the vote to take place, we can end this shutdown."
The US also faces running out of money and defaulting
on its debt if there is no agreement to raise government
borrowing limits later this month.
'Worse than 2008'
Christine Lagarde, managing director of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), said warned earlier
that a failure to raise the US debt ceiling would be a far
worse threat to the global economy than the current
shutdown.
She said it was "mission critical" that the US agreed a
new debt limit.
Ms Lagarde's comments were echoed by the US
Treasury.
It said a debt default could lead to a financial crisis as
bad as 2008 or worse.
Meanwhile, the impact of the shutdown was being felt
across the country.
The National Transportation Safety Board did not send
investigators to a deadly church bus crash in Tennessee
that killed eight people and injured 14 others.
The labour department also postponed the release of
the highly anticipated September jobs report.
With Tropical Storm Karen bearing down on the Gulf
states, the website of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), carried a message
saying: "Due to the federal government shutdown,
NOAA.gov and most associated web sites are
unavailable."
It referred visitors to the National Weather Service.
However, the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(Fema) recalled workers to help prepare for the storm.
On Friday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the
House would vote on a measure to re-open Fema as
well as the National Weather Service to deal with the
impending storm.
between the US and the EU have been postponed
because of a partial government shutdown in
America.
US officials had been due in Brussels next week to
discuss the deal aimed at boosting bilateral ties.
US President Barack Obama earlier cancelled his trip to
Asia because of the shutdown.
The US government closed non-essential operations on
Tuesday after Congress failed to agree a new budget.
Since then hundreds of thousands of government
employees have not been working or paid.
'Unfortunate'
On Friday, US trade representative Michael Froman
informed the EU that financial and staffing constraints
made it impossible to send a full negotiating team to
Brussels.
But he stressed that Washington would continue
working with the EU on drawing up the deal, but would
have to wait until the shutdown was over.
Reacting to the US announcement, European Trade
Commissioner Karel De Gucht said the delay was
unfortunate.
"But let me underline that it in no way distracts us
from our overall aim of achieving an ambitious trade
and investment deal," he added.
Meanwhile, the White House said that Mr Obama would
miss two summits in Asia, including the Asia-Pacific
Economic Co-operation (Apec) meeting in Indonesia.
It said the decision was made due to the "difficulty in
moving forward with foreign travel in the face of a
shutdown".
Mr Obama called Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono on Friday and expressed his regret over the
cancellation, Indonesian presidential spokesman for
foreign affairs Teuku Faizasyah told the BBC.
The visit had not been rescheduled, the spokesman
added.
Secretary of State John Kerry will attend the Apec
gathering and the East Asia summit in Brunei in Mr
Obama's place, the White House said.
President Obama had been due to begin a four-nation
Asian trip on Saturday, heading to Bali and Brunei
before travelling on to Malaysia and the Philippines.
The US government partially shut down operations on
Tuesday after Republicans who control the House of
Representatives refused to approve a budget, saying
they would only do so if Mr Obama's healthcare reform
law was delayed or stripped of funding.
Mr Obama and the Democrats have refused, noting the
law was passed in 2010, subsequently approved by the
Supreme Court, and was a central issue in the 2012
election which Mr Obama won comfortably.
On Friday, Democrats and Republicans appeared no
closer to finding a way out of the impasse.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner insisted Mr
Obama and Democratic Senate leaders open
negotiations on the shutdown.
"All we're asking for is to sit down and have a
discussion," he said. "This isn't some damn game."
Mr Obama later said he was happy to hold talks with
the Republicans, "but we can't do it with a gun held to
the head of the American people".
"This shutdown could be over today," he said. "We
know there are the votes for it in the House of
Representatives. If Speaker Boehner will simply allow
the vote to take place, we can end this shutdown."
The US also faces running out of money and defaulting
on its debt if there is no agreement to raise government
borrowing limits later this month.
'Worse than 2008'
Christine Lagarde, managing director of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), said warned earlier
that a failure to raise the US debt ceiling would be a far
worse threat to the global economy than the current
shutdown.
She said it was "mission critical" that the US agreed a
new debt limit.
Ms Lagarde's comments were echoed by the US
Treasury.
It said a debt default could lead to a financial crisis as
bad as 2008 or worse.
Meanwhile, the impact of the shutdown was being felt
across the country.
The National Transportation Safety Board did not send
investigators to a deadly church bus crash in Tennessee
that killed eight people and injured 14 others.
The labour department also postponed the release of
the highly anticipated September jobs report.
With Tropical Storm Karen bearing down on the Gulf
states, the website of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), carried a message
saying: "Due to the federal government shutdown,
NOAA.gov and most associated web sites are
unavailable."
It referred visitors to the National Weather Service.
However, the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(Fema) recalled workers to help prepare for the storm.
On Friday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the
House would vote on a measure to re-open Fema as
well as the National Weather Service to deal with the
impending storm.
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