KUALA LUMPUR – The 12 countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact have set four deadlines for reaching a consensus on eliminating tariffs, aiming for a basic agreement by the end of October, negotiation sources said. Under the four-stage timetable, all TPP countries except Japan are required to put 75 percent of their respective tariff lines on the negotiation table by Aug. 16, 90 percent by Aug. 30, 95 percent by Sept. 20 and 100 percent by the end of October, the sources said.

SEJONG, Aug. 2 (Yonhap) — The latest round of talks with Japan and China for a three-way free trade agreement (FTA) ended Friday after what South Korea called "constructive discussions." "At the second round of negotiations, (the countries) discussed key issues, such as the scope and means of lowering import tariffs and the scope of negotiations, based on the terms of reference adopted at the first round of negotiations," South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a press release.

The Intellectual Property (IP) Rights chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is far from being finalised. “It is one of the largest and more complex chapters and we have a lot of catching up to do to reach a state of consensus in the negotiations, compared with other sections in the agreement,” said Burhan Irwan Cheong, lead IP negotiator for the Malaysian TPP negotiating team.

Noting that growing trade and investment continue to drive the US- India partnership forward, leading South Aisa experts have said the two countries should not let trade issues complicate their relationship even as they welcomed India's admission to the trans-Pacific trade treaty as an "economic coup".

BRUSSELS, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission on Friday endorsed the amicable solution to the European Union-China solar panels case announced by Commissioner Karel De Gucht last weekend. "During the process leading to today's decision, the Commission has received almost unanimous support from EU member states," the Commission said in a written statement on its website.

Putrajaya reiterated today it will not reveal details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement due to a "confidentiality" clause despite hosting an open day to answer questions about the controversial 12-nation trade pact. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) had launched the full-day event to calm tensions and answer criticisms about Malaysia's position in the trade pact but businessmen and traders expressed disappointment over its secrecy and worry about its implications.

TOKYO, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government said Thursday that the country and the United States will meet in Tokyo on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade talks next week. In a three-day meeting starting Wednesday, Japan will discuss safety standards and other matters related to cars, the insurance sector and intellectual property issues with the United States, the initiator of the free trade talks, according to Japan's Kyodo News.

Vice President Joe Biden returned from India last week after a whirlwind trip designed to reinvigorate U.S.-India ties and cajole Delhi toward economic reform. Meanwhile, 2,000 miles away, the latest round of negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement was kicking off in Malaysia.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a sweeping, secret global treaty that sets out many corporatist policies by which countries surrender their national interest and sovereignty in favor of corporations, who get to violate local regulations and rules and sue countries that try to enforce them.

The Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) signed between the ROC and mainland China in 2010 means that Beijing will no longer try to hamper Taipei’s negotiation of free trade agreements with third countries, according to a book recently published by the World Trade Organization.