The proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership is a regional trade agreement with 12 countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. All of these countries are current members of the World Trade Organization, which compels them to uniform trading rules and lowering of tariff barriers. The U.S. already has established free trade agreements with six of these 11 trading partners (Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Singapore).

It may seem like a small market, but its value and growth potential means there’s more to the region than meets the eye. Korea’s trade ministry started free trade talks with six Central American nations in the U.S. city of Houston on Thursday, local time. If sealed Korea will be the first Asian country to have an FTA with the six Central American countries giving Korean products an edge over rival exporters like Japan and China.

India will sign a free trade agreement with Eurasian Economic Union (EEU or EAEU) to boost trade and economic ties with the region, according to media reports. "We are definitely signing this agreement", Amit Telang, first secretary of India’s embassy in Russia told a news agency in Moscow. The agreement will be signed at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2015).

“The involvement of the private sector must be through participation in analysis and decision making as well as in overseeing the implementation of trade facilitation measures.” – Nazaire Pare, Director General for Foreign Trade, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts, Burkina Faso

The World Trade Organization (WTO) announced on June 11, 2015, that 66 developing and least-developed country members have now submitted notifications to the WTO outlining which provisions of the new Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) they intend to implement upon entry into force of the pact.

HA NOI (VNS) — While exports were identified as a solution for the cement industry to deal with oversupply at home, there remains stiff competition from large producers, such as China, Thailand and Indonesia. Statistics showed that cement and clinker exports in the first five months dropped by 24 per cent over the same period last year to 5.8 million tonnes. The Ministry of Construction said that cement exports to many markets were not as large this year, especially to Bangladesh – the biggest importer of Vietnamese cement last year.

The integration into the global and regional economy, signaled by the free trade agreements that Vietnam has clinched or is going to finalize with foreign partners, will create an opportunity for a big revamp to the sector which is losing shine. “We want to import Vietnamese shrimp, not ice,” Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh quoted an official of a member country in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) bloc as telling him at the signing ceremony of a free trade agreement (FTA) last month.

Key US trade partners said Saturday they were still optimistic about reaching a deal to lower Pacific Rim trade barriers, but acknowledged that a setback in Washington made the already tight schedule even more challenging. Japan’s Economy Minister Akira Amari, speaking to reporters in Tokyo, said there was no need to be overly pessimistic. “We are looking for the House to work toward prompt passage” of legislation granting President Barack Obama broad negotiating authority, he said.

A crucial vote affecting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be held in the United States House of Representatives overnight. The House will decide whether to give President Barack Obama's Administration "fast track authority". Officially known as Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), the trade deal among 12 countries including New Zealand could be presented back to the House in the future for a yes or no vote, without amendment.

A decade and a half ago, I filled my days writing speeches urging Congress to grant President George W. Bush fast-track trade authority. If memory serves, I wrote more speeches on that one subject than on any other. Obviously, I didn’t earn my pay: Despite Republican majorities in both Houses, Congress balked.