News

News

(Reuters) - Crisis is the natural state of world trade negotiations. But this week will be different. Ministers meeting in the Indonesian resort of Bali from Tuesday until Friday will decide the fate of the World Trade Organization, with two possible outcomes: a global trade agreement, the first since the WTO was created in 1995, or a failure that kills off the Doha round of trade talks and casts the WTO into obsolescence.

More

TOKYO, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Akira Amari, Japan's minister in charge of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade negotiations of Japan, brushed aside on Sunday the possibility of making further concessions to the United States on sensitive issues. "We had a very tense discussion on outstanding issues, but we reached no conclusion," the minister for economic and fiscal policy told reporters after meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in Tokyo.

More

(Reuters) - Asian trade powerhouse South Korea took a step closer on Friday to joining 12-nation talks aimed at slashing trade barriers between nations making up about 40 percent of the world economy. The world's seventh-largest exporter said after a meeting of top economic officials that it would soon enter negotiations with the United States, Japan, Canada and nine others already in the group.

More

The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Roberto Azevedo, has said that negotiations on the first global trade deal in the organization's history are on the brink of collapse. The WTO members have come "very close to fully agreed texts," Azevedo said, but "over the last few days, we stopped making the tough political calls." Talks on the global trade deal, which could potentially add nearly USD1 trillion to the world economy, began in 2001.

More

JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (PPCAFF) on Friday said an EU ban on imports of South African citrus products is a "major concern."

More

Nov 29 (Reuters) - - India's trade minister said there would be no compromise on a flagship food subsidy programme at a WTO ministerial meeting next week that diplomats said earlier could be a stumbling block to a deal.

More

Vietnam regards its integration into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as not a final target but a continuation of the national course of economic reform that focuses on facilitating trade and investment activities. Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh made the remark at a conference in Hanoi on November 28 to announce the outcomes of the first review of trade policies and practices of Vietnam at the WTO. 

More

As negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) resume in Salt Lake City, Utah, activists are decrying the unprecedented level of secrecy shrouding this 19th round of talks, which take place from Nov. 19 to 24. The monumental agreement is being hashed out by several hundred representatives of corporations based in 12 nations on both sides of the Pacific Ocean without any direct government involvement, and advocacy groups say that the latest round of discussions, which are only open to "Chief Negotiators and Key Experts," are even more secretive than previous rounds.

More

PITTSBURGH, Nov 27, 2013 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Calgon Carbon Corporation (CCC) announced that the Department of Commerce (DOC) has determined the amount of antidumping tariffs to be assessed on imports of steam activated carbon from China that entered the United States between April 2, 2011 to March 31, 2012. The average tariff rate is $0.07 per lb. which replaces the average rate of $0.47 per lb. that had been in effect. These announced tariffs may be modified to correct any errors made by the Commerce Department.

More

Nov 27 (Reuters) – Indonesia has launched a trade dispute against Pakistan over paper products, the World Trade Organization said on Wednesday. Indonesia wants Pakistan to close down its investigations into imports of writing and printing paper, on which it could decide to levy punitive anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties.

More