SINGAPORE, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Ministers in 12-nation Trans-Pacific trade talks said on Tuesday they had yet to reach agreement on tariffs and other market access issues, with the timing of a completed deal looking increasingly unclear.  Ministers said they had made significant progress during four days of meetings in Singapore, but the talks ended with no clear indication of a time frame to clinch the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) agreements.

(Reuters) - Bilateral talks between Japan and the United States held as part of negotiations on a Pacific trade pact ended without an agreement on Monday, with Japanese Economics Minister Akira Amari saying that gaps still remained between the two sides. U.S. and Japanese differences over agricultural tariffs are one of the major hurdles facing the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and time is running out to find a way forward at the latest round of talks which wrap up in Singapore on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI, Feb 25 (Reuters) - India has decided to block investigations by the United States into its trade policies and patent laws, and prepare for a battle at the World Trade Organization (WTO), a move that could escalate already-strained tension between the two countries. New Delhi is furious about a threat of trade sanctions made by the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) office over its protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), preference for domestic producers and non-trade barriers.

A US trade panel voted Monday to extend antidumping duties on persulfates from China after the third five-year review of the measures imposed initially in 1997. The US International Trade Commission (USITC) voted against revoking the existing duty orders on persulfates from China, saying it "would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time."

HANOI, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is expected to earn 4.33 billion U.S. dollars from exporting agro-forestry-fishery products in the first two months of 2014, up 9.4 percent year-on-year, said a report by Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Tuesday.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Ministerial Meeting in Singapore continued on February 24, focusing on opening the market for commodities, textiles and garments, investment, financial services and government procurement.

The TPP Ministerial Meeting is taking place in Singapore from February 22 to 25 with participation of ministers from 12 TPP countries.  Ministers from the 12 Asia-Pacific countries, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam have gathered here for the meeting. 

(Reuters) - Japan and the United States remain far apart on bilateral trade talks that are key to a Pacific-wide trade deal, Japanese economy minister Akira Amari said on 21/2. The two biggest economies in the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks are seeking agreement on their key bilateral issues - cars for the United States and farm products such as rice for Japan - to facilitate a deal among the 12 Pacific Rim nations in the talks. Amari told a regular news conference that "considerable gaps remain" between Tokyo and Washington.

(Reuters) - Barriers to farm imports in Japan and Canada will be one focus of free trade talks with Pacific Rim countries this weekend (22/2), U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said on Thursday. Speaking at an agricultural conference shortly before leaving for the next round of talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Singapore, he said negotiators were keen to resolve sticking points to allow the talks to go forward.

As the European Union and the United States wrap up a week of talks on the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) in Washington, the EU still says it hopes to have something to show before the European elections in May. But observers say the real, final deadline is mid 2016, just before the US elections. Partners on both sides of the Atlantic have expressed hope to finish negotiations on the trade deal swiftly, perhaps even before the end of this year.