Canadian auto parts makers say they are worried about the prospect of Japan winning the right to sell cars duty-free inside a future Trans-Pacific Partnership trade zone when a majority of the vehicle content comes from low-cost countries that are not signatories to the commercial accord. The Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) predicts that this would end up hurting Canadian auto-sector firms.

Vietnam and the European Union (EU) have basically concluded negotiations on the bilateral free trade agreement (EVFTA), announced Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang at a press conference in Hanoi on August 4. Hoang said he and EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom had a phone talks on August 4 during which they agreed on the basic conclusion of negotiations on the EVFTA, which is one of the agreements with the highest quality between the two sides and expected to greatly benefit their peoples and businesses.

Twelve-nation Pacific Rim trade talks must better reflect the interests of participants other than the United States and Japan, rather than centering on their bilateral agreements, New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser told Japan's Nikkei business daily. He rejected suggestions, however, that New Zealand had played a major role in scuttling a possible deal in Trans-Pacific Partnership talks last week by taking hard line on dairy market access, according to an interview published on Thursday.

The 400-million-strong U.S. market, the one that almost every country wants to export their goods to, plays such a crucial role in today’s world due not only to its size, but also to the technologies and working styles the American economy possesses, pundits said at the "20 Years of Vietnam-U.S. Relationship: A View from the Trade Perspective" workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on July 31.

US Secretary of State John Kerry says countries involved in negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership are clear about the benefits of the deal, although recent talks in Hawaii failed to reach a conclusive agreement.

Today the EU and Vietnam have reached an agreement in principle for a free trade agreement (FTA), after two and a half years of intense negotiations. Following a telephone conversation this morning between EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang, all issues of substance have been agreed, and both sides have reached a mutually beneficial and balanced package.

HCM CITY (VNS)— Twenty years after the US and Viet Nam established diplomatic relations, bilateral trade turnover has risen 80-fold, and is expected to boom after the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement, currently under negotiations, takes effect. In 1995, bilateral trade volume was reported at US$500 million, and this year, it is estimated that it would be $40 billion. Within ten years, it could reach $50 or $60 billion.

Pacific Rim trade ministers failed to clinch a deal on Friday to free up trade between a dozen nations after a dispute flared up over auto trade between Japan and North America, New Zealand dug in over dairy trade and no agreement was reached on monopoly periods for next-generation drugs. Trade ministers from the 12 nations negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would stretch from Japan to Chile and cover 40 percent of the world economy, fell just short of a deal at talks on the Hawaiian island of Maui but were confident an agreement was within reach.

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso dismissed on Friday a call to set up a forum within the Pacific free trade negotiations to stop countries from manipulating exchange rates. Aso's comments follow remarks from Australia's trade minister earlier this stating week that countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade talks are considering a U.S. proposal for finance ministers to discuss currency questions.

HCM CITY (VNS) — Vietnamese footwear exports rose 21.2 per cent against the same period last year to more than US$5.85 billion for the first six months of the year, the General Department of Customs reported. The figure is expected to reach $14 billion by the end of the year, according to the Viet Nam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (Lefaso). Of the figure for the first half of the year, exports to the US increased by 30.2 per cent to $2 billion, equal to export earnings from the EU, which saw a growth of 17 per cent.