When U.S. trade chief Michael Froman opened talks in 2013 on an EU-U.S. free trade deal he said he was confident it could be reached on "one tank of gas." Two years later, negotiations have all but stalled.
This was to have been a unique trade deal between open, developed economies whose high wages meant trade unions did not need to fear job-sapping floods of cheap imports.
But as negotiators prepare for their 10th meeting, in Brussels next month, EU officials are complaining that U.S. counterparts are inflexible and the European Parliament is so split on the subject of the deal that it cannot even agree to debate it.
Senior trade officials initially forecast talks could conclude by the end of 2014, but now they appear to be heading for the in-tray of whoever succeeds Froman's boss, Barack Obama, in 2017.
Timing is important. The partners envisage an agreement encompassing a third of global trade that would set a standard for others to follow, but their economic influence is gradually waning.
The subject has whipped up ecology, consumer and civil society groups who argue that this is a secretive deal for big corporations that will lower food, environmental and health standards and cut rather than increase jobs.
But even aside from problems posed by external pressures, officials representing each region face considerable stress inside the negotiating room.
The United States and the European Union have successfully concluded trade deals with other regions by imposing their methods on a promise of a massive market of consumers in return.
Now they are finding that approach doesn't work with each other, and a fight has broken out over who will be top dog.
A clash of styles was clear from the start. The European Commission, armed with a mandate from EU members, presented an offer to cut tariffs on 95% of products or "tariff lines" from the outset, while the offer from the United States, more used to leaving issues open until the end, only covered 67% of lines.
The partners also have different approaches to regulation, from which most of the gains of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, known as TTIP, are expected to derive given tariffs are already low.
In some areas, such as automobile safety, there is a meeting of minds. In many other fields the United States wants Europe to reform its regulatory process, while the EU has urged regulatory bodies to find ways of reconciling differences.
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