Trade Minister Tim Groser is not impressed by Australia's free trade agreement with Japan and hopes it will be ignored by the United States within the Trans Pacific Partnership. He was aware there had been some very sharp criticism of the deal by the United States. "I take note of that - I'm a trained diplomat so that's what I say in those situations," he told the Herald. "I think what that means is the Americans are not going to take a blind bit of notice of this in terms of setting their level of ambition on agriculture in TPP.

The Economic Partnership Agreement that Japan recently signed with Australia (JAEPA) has everything to do with Japanese trade strategy and little if anything to do with agricultural reform. Some of the commentary on the agreement has argued that JAEPA was the product of Abe’s reform agenda, but it is neither part of that agenda nor will it advance it.Other factors were at stake — chiefly relating to Abe’s trade strategy.

GENEVA—The World Trade Organization narrowly upgraded its 2014 forecast for global trade but cautioned that growth remained well below the long-term average. The Geneva-based trade body Monday raised its estimate for growth in the value of trade in goods to 4.7% from 4.5% as economic growth showed signs of recovery. Despite the improvement, the forecast remained below the 5.3% average registered over the past 20 years. WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo called the expected upturn "broad-based but modest."

The European Union has opposed a petition for the imposition of safeguard measures, punitive tariffs on imports, on newsprint and galvanized iron stressing this kind of trade remedy covers all countries and is difficult to prove. Walter van Hattum, Head of Economic and Trade Section of the EU Delegation to the Philippines, told reporters the delegation has already submitted its position paper to the Department of Trade and Industry.

The US Commerce Department on Monday set preliminary subsidy rates on Chinese refrigeration products whose technical name is 1, 1, 1, 2-Tetrafluoroethane, signaling that it may impose punitive duties on the products. The department made its preliminary affirmative determination that Chinese producers and exporters of 1, 1, 1, 2- Tetrafluoroethane, received countervailable subsidies ranging from 1.35 percent to 28.74 percent.

(Reuters) - The United States appears willing to accept a big cut in Japanese tariffs on beef imports rather than insist on scrapping the levy, the Nikkei business daily said on Friday, as the two countries seek a trade deal seen as vital to a broader regional pact. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Japanese Economics Minister Akira Amari wrapped up two days of intense talks on Thursday on the bilateral deal, a cornerstone of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), with both saying progress had been made but that big gaps remained.

A US-backed Pacific free-trade pact could cause resentment in Southeast Asia, leaving some nations in the region better positioned to access the American market than others, a top Philippine official said. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima proposed inviting all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), even if most cannot now meet the conditions for joining. He said on Thursday that would demonstrate a clear pathway for entering the pact, without lowering standards.

Failure by Japanese and U.S. negotiators to reach a Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement is making headlines across Japan and raising concerns about the implications for U.S. President Barack Obama’s trip here later this month.

BOAO, Hainan, April 10 -- China has an open attitude to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang toldthe opening ceremony of the 2014 annual conference of the Boao Forum forAsia on Thursday. "As long as the TPP is conducive to the development of global trade and thefostering of an equitable and open trading environment, China is happy to seeits conclusion," Li said in a keynote speech.

BOAO, Hainan, April 10 -- China has an open attitude to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang toldthe opening ceremony of the 2014 annual conference of the Boao Forum forAsia on Thursday.