(Reuters) - The United States pressed Japan on Thursday to open its farm and auto markets to overseas competition and said it could not expect special treatment in a Pacific trade pact covering one-third of global imports and exports. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told U.S. lawmakers that Japan's reluctance to lower trade barriers was holding up agreement on the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would stretch from Asia to Latin America.

Taiwanese officials on Friday stated the nation’s intention of becoming a “constructive partner” in the US’ efforts to promote regional economic integration during the latest round of bilateral talks, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Bill Cho (卓士昭) said. The officials also briefed their US counterparts on reforms the nation has undertaken in its bid to join the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade bloc, Cho said.

(Reuters) - Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb said substantive issues remained in trade negotiations with Japan as the two nations rushed to conclude a free trade agreement before their prime ministers meet on Monday. "We made progress. There are still a couple of substantial issues we are negotiating and we will meet again tomorrow," Robb said after a five-hour session with Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshimasu Hayashi in Tokyo on Saturday. Robb described the meeting as exhausting.

WASHINGTON, April 4 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. government agency decided on Friday to maintain the existing antidumping duty on crawfish tail meat from China, despite Beijing's repeated calls for Washington to drop protectionism. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) said in a ruling that revoking the current antidumping duty orders on crawfish tail meat from China would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time.

(Reuters) - More than a year after Australia became the first country to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes, there is little hard evidence to prove the trailblazing move is worth emulating. Challenges to the stringent laws remain bogged down in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the tobacco lobby is taking control of a debate characterized by a paucity of data. At the King of the Pack tobacconist in central Sydney, James Yu shakes his head despondently as he says his cigarette sales volumes have plummeted 30 percent over the past year.

From March 31 to April 4, 2014, in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the 5th negotiation round of FTA between Vietnam and Customs Union of Belarus – Kazakhstan – Russia was held under the chairmanship of Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam Vu Huy Hoang and Minister in charge for Trade in Asia – Europe Economic Committee Andrei A. Slepnhev.

WASHINGTON – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed last week to aim at reaching a broad accord in talks related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade negotiations by the time the two leaders meet in late April, sources said Wednesday. They confirmed the target at their meeting held in The Hague on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit, according to the sources. Obama is slated to visit Japan in late April for a meeting with Abe.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will give congressional lawmakers an update on the Obama administration’s trade agenda Thursday, including its efforts to close out Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. While that agreement is expected to be concluded in the coming months, U.S. agricultural groups are concerned that it may fall short of the comprehensive deal they had hoped for.

TOKYO -- Hoping to stand firm as it heads into pitched battle with the U.S. in Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, Japan aims to quickly reach deals with Australia and other nations that will leave some agricultural tariffs intact, something Washington opposes.

SEOUL, April 3 (Reuters) - South Korea should shift away from a quota system on rice imports to ease pressure from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to open its markets for the grain, agricultural industry and government officials in the country said on Thursday. Although they suggested switching to a system of high tariffs that would still curb shipments into the country, removing caps would mark a key psychological shift in a politically-sensitive sector and could potentially pave the way for lower duty in future.