Ministers from Pacific Rim nations hoping to finalize an ambitious free trade deal this week warned on Monday that hurdles remained including intellectual property and dairy. The United States and Japan, the two biggest economies in the talks, are both keen for strong intellectual property protections, such as long copyright periods and data protection for next-generation drugs.

Resistance from a stubborn Canada and protectionist Malaysia is emerging as the biggest hurdle ahead of a crucial Trans-Pacific Partnership meeting starting in Hawaii on Tuesday. Trade negotiators believe sealing a ministerial-level deal at the TPP on the island of Maui is critical, because further delays risk negotiations dragging the talks into the US election season where populist anti-free trade rhetoric could jeopardise any deal.

Pacific Rim officials meet in Hawaii this week for talks that could make or break an ambitious trade deal which aims to boost growth and set common standards across a dozen economies ranging from the United States to Brunei. Trade ministers go into the talks, which run from July 28 to 31 on the island of Maui, with high hopes of a pact to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the most sweeping trade deal in a generation and a legacy-defining achievement for U.S. President Barack Obama.

Officials and ministers from around the Pacific are descending on Hawaii this week for what should be the final round in the negotiation of the terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The big two in the arrangement — Japan and the United States — appear to have settled, and this bilateral between the two largest parties to the negotiation will be by far its most significant outcome. But there is still uncertainty about whether the agreement will be put to bed within the week and what its shape will finally be.

July 1 marked the fourth anniversary of the EU-Korea free trade agreement, which entered into force in 2011. It was touted as the first of a new generation of FTAs, going further than any previous agreements in lifting trade barriers. Being also the EU’s first trade deal with an Asian country, Korea was expected to benefit immensely.

The free trade agreement (FTA) with China will allow Beijing to reinstate tariffs on some Australian beef and dairy products once imports hit a certain volume, a federal parliamentary committee has been told. Under the FTA signed last year, China is to phase out tariffs on imported Australian beef over nine years. But agribusiness lawyer Lea Fua told a Brisbane hearing that China has a safeguard clause which allows it to add customs duties to fresh and frozen beef carcasses and meat when Australian beef imports hit a volume trigger of 170,000 tonnes.

Australia is on the cusp of joining a huge new United States-led trade deal which will "set the rules" for doing business in the region at the expense of China. The Trans-Pacific Partnership, involving twelve Pacific-Rim nations, could be sealed in coming days, after talks that had drifted for five years narrowly escaped death in the US Congress. "It could be done this week," said Trade Minister Andrew Robb last night, as he prepared to depart for what he hopes will be one final round of talks in Maui, Hawaii.

Bangladesh's export of ready-made garments (RMG) to the United States grew remarkably between 2005 and 2011. Since then, there has been little growth in export of either knit or woven garments. Total apparel export increased by 7.3 per cent between 2011 and 2014, which is slightly more than the increase in the US apparel import demand.  This obviously means that Bangladesh barely managed a very small increase of 0.1 per cent in its share of the US market.

HANOI: The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, of which Vietnam is a member, will come to a conclusion late this year has turned the Southeast Asian country into a so popular destination for investment for export. Many other countries outside of the TPP have already poured billions into the group to grasp the chances for exporting to the remaining eleven members, especially the U.S., which almost every country in the world wants to sell their goods to.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal has been cast as a showdown between Canada and the United States over this country’s protected dairy and poultry industries. But the real stakes are about Japan – the world’s third-largest market. And Canada risks losing a big chunk of that market if it’s not part of the deal.