Taipei, Nov. 10 (CNA) Vice Economics Minister Cho Shih-chao said Monday that a free trade agreement to be signed in the near future between China and South Korea will have a major adverse impact on Taiwan’s industrial base. Citing an assessment of the Industrial Technology Research Institute, Cho said that if Taiwan and China cannot complete a trade-in-goods agreement in three to five years, the pact between Seoul and Beijing would cost Taiwan between NT$260 billion (US$8.5 billion) and NT$650 billion over time.

The use of anti-dumping duties by the G-20 nations is on the decline, according to the latest World Trade Organization (WTO) report on trade developments issued on November 6, 2014.

(Reuters) - There will be no "major announcement" on a Washington-backed Asia-Pacific free trade deal during a meeting of leaders from the region in Beijing this week, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said on Sunday. Few expected that a deal on the ambitious 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could be reached this year, largely because of a deadlock between the pact's two biggest economies, the United States and Japan, over how widely Japan will open its doors to farm exports.

The European Union (EU) has challenged India on the issue of import restrictions on marbles and marble products at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), after the European Commission (EC) received complaints about it from the marble stone industry in Europe.

(Reuters) - China is part of "intensive" talks on a global trade pact regarding information technology products, the World Trade Organization's chief said on Saturday, but it is unclear if a deal will be made at a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders underway in Beijing. The United States and other countries have been hopeful that China would sign on to the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), which requires signatories to eliminate duties on some IT products, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that ends on Tuesday.

BEIJING--Pacific Rim trade ministers made scant progress putting in place separate trade deals covering high-tech goods and regional trade during a two-day meeting here, though talks will continue through a leaders' summit that begins Monday.

Nov 8 (Reuters) - Japan's Economy Minister Akira Amari said on Saturday he saw progress in Asia-Pacific regional trade negotiations, although it would be difficult to reach an agreement by the end of the year, according to Jiji press. Trade ministers from the 12 nations participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact held talks on the sidelines of an annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) meeting in Beijing.

(Reuters) - Australia said on Saturday it was pleased with progress on a long-planned free trade agreement with China and that it would be happy to conclude it by next week when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits. Xi will attend the G20 summit in Brisbane next week and then make a formal state visit. "I understand that our negotiators are very pleased with the progress," Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Beijing.

Economic projections clearly show that TTIP's potential gains are heavily dependent upon the extent to which non-tariff barriers to trade (NTBs) are eliminated. However, this also introduces a lot of uncertainty. Socially, it can sometimes impose costs by allowing economic efficiency and power over global regulatory schemes to trump a society's concerns. Economically, the effects of regulatory coordination are exceedingly difficult to estimate.

The U.S. trade watchdog concluded Thursday that South Korea’s non-oriented electrical steel (NOES) is causing damage to the domestic steel industry due to its low price.   The decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission will be followed by the U.S. Department of Commerce imposing six-point-88 percent of countervailing duty on the South Korean products.   South Korea’s biggest steelmaker POSCO produces NOES, which is a high value-added steel product, while Hyundai Corporation exports the product.