It is well known that the many bilateral FTAs signed to date in Asia have not brought significant commercial or domestic reform or benefits. For one thing, bilateral ‘free trade agreements’ (which are preferential in character) are less likely to deliver substantial trade opening benefits unless the partners to them are a very large part of global trade, like the United States, Europe and China are for example.

China may establish a free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in the future, says the Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov. It would make trade with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and soon Kyrgyzstan tariff-free.

The critics were right. Ten years after the Australia–United States free trade agreement (AUSFTA) came into force, new analysis of the data shows that the agreement diverted trade away from the lowest cost sources. Australia and the United States have reduced their trade by US$53 billion with rest of the world and are worse off than they would have been without the agreement.

In principle, almost everyone's in favor of free trade. It promotes international harmony, raises wages, helps economies grow. It's an article of historical faith that the enactment of harsh protective U.S. tariffs in 1930 contributed to the Great Depression. And who wants that?

BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The second round of negotiations on an upgraded China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) has made "notable progress", China's Ministry of Commerce said on Friday. Service trade, investment, economic cooperation, simplified trade procedures were discussed during the negotiation, the ministry said. Launched in 2010, CAFTA has become the largest free trade area among developing countries. China proposed "an upgraded version" of CAFTA in September of 2013.

Brussels (AFP) - The United States and European Union agreed on Friday to work "full throttle" to secure the world's biggest-ever free trade deal despite growing scepticism on both sides of the Atlantic. Negotiators ended an eighth set of talks on the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, which after nearly two years remains bogged down by activist opposition.

The proposed ASEAN Economic Community could offer new market opportunities for nations such as Japan that are currently in talks to form the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a Malaysian minister has said. Abdul Wahid Omar, who serves in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Economic Planning, said in an interview in Davos, Switzerland, that members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have so far implemented 80 percent of the initiatives needed to enable such integration, and that they aim to bring the AEC into existence by the end of this year.

HA NOI (VNS) — Inadequate infrastructure and supporting services are among the challenges that Viet Nam must overcome to become a hub for cross-border trade, especially as ASEAN will soon become an integrated economic community. Infrastructure at border gates such as storage areas, inspection equipment and connecting roads were among the hurdles that must be addressed to improve cross-border trade, according to Nguyen Van Hoi, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Department of Mountainous Area Trade.

Trade Minister Andrew Robb says he believes agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership could be just weeks away. TPP negotiators are aiming to create a trade bloc around the Pacific rim, including Australia, the US, Japan and Canada. Progress has been slow, but Mr Robb believes a breakthrough is imminent, and a deal could be struck within weeks. "Mid-February to mid-March: that'll be, I think, the timeframe," he said. "We might have to come back again to conclude some things, but that's the intent.

HA NOI (VNS) — A successful 2014 and the promise of bigger export opportunities has given the domestic leather and footwear industry the confidence to set a US$14 billion export target for this year. Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, general secretary of the Viet Nam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso), told Viet Nam News that the new target marked a year-on-year increase of 15 per cent.