Emphasizing the need for exchanging trade delegation frequently between Saarc countries to boost trade, Vice President, Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Iftikhar Ali Malik, has expressed hope that trade between India and Pakistan can be doubled just in few years with removal of non-tariff barriers.

(Reuters) - The United States took a step on Friday towards potentially extending import duties on Chinese solar energy products to also cover panels made with parts from Taiwan in a case that could have a major impact on the fast-growing U.S. solar market. The U.S. International Trade Commission found there was reason to think the imports could harm the local solar industry, putting Washington on a path toward widening the reach of the steep duties it slapped on products from China in 2012 and potentially escalating a tit-for-tat trade spat.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Friday approved anti-dumping and countervailing investigations on crystalline silicon photovoltaic products from China, paving the way for the Department of Commerce to set preliminary duties in the months ahead. The trade panel voted in the affirmative that there was a reasonable indication that a U.S. industry was materially injured by imports of these products, the ITC said in a statement.

HO CHI MINH CITY, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Domestic automobile businesses will not be allowed to import used cars, carriers and special purpose vehicles that have been in use for five years or more as of Feb. 20, 2014, reported the Ministry of Industry and Trade on its website Friday. Accordingly, the new regulation was set down in Circular 04 issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, detailing the government's Decree 187/2013/ND-CP on international goods and purchases, processing and transiting agency activities with foreign countries.

Between February 8-10, the Pacific Alliance will hold its eighth summit in Cartagena, Colombia. During the event, the presidents of Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico will sign a free trade agreement to eliminate tariffs on 92 percent of trade goods between the countries. The notable exclusion is agriculture.

WELLINGTON, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's government came under increasing international pressure Wednesday to release the text of the controversial 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal before it is signed. Senior legislators in seven countries had signed an open letter calling for the TPP text to be released to allow effective legislative scrutiny and public debate in their countries before it was signed, said Auckland University Law Professor Jane Kelsey, who has campaigned against the secrecy of the ongoing negotiations.

NEW DELHI, Feb 12 (Reuters) - India granted a subsidy for raw sugar output to tackle a chronic surplus of the refined product, in a move that is likely to boost exports of raws by the second-biggest producer after Brazil and put downward pressure on world prices. By encouraging output of raw sugar over white, the 3,333 rupees ($53.52) a tonne subsidy should help cut oversupply of refined sugar, which has piled up unsold at Indian mills after four straight years of surplus production and unattractive prices domestically and abroad.

JAKARTA – Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat ensured that the government will impose anti dumping import duty on imported polyethylene terephthalate (PET), as the raw material of plastics bottle, yet under compromised implementation. The Industry Ministry, he said, suggested that the anti dumping import duty (BMAD) number over imported PET is set around 4% within only 6 months, or lower than the recommendation made by Indonesian Anti Dumping Committee (KADI).

LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - European steel lobby Eurofer plans to file anti-dumping cases this year with the European Commission against exports of cold rolled stainless sheet from China and Taiwan and of electrical steel sheet from Russia. If the Commission, the European Union's executive, takes up the cases, they will join a series of damaging trade disputes over recent years between the 28-nation EU and China, as well as some with Russia.

HANOI, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's cement producers will give priority to boosting exports as domestic supply still exceeds demand while the local market outlook remains gloomy in the foreseeable future, industry insiders said. Citing statistics by the Ministry of Construction (MoC), Vietnam News daily on Thursday reported that the country's total cement output in 2013 hit 70 million tons. Meanwhile, some 61 million tons of cement were sold in domestic and world markets, up 14 percent year on year.