With deadlines fast approaching, the head of the World Trade Organization has warned that narrow vested interests threaten to scupper the conclusion of the Doha Round, thus weakening the WTO system and proving detrimental to developing countries. The WTO's self-imposed deadline for the production of new draft texts for the Round had been set for April 21, the last day before the Easter Recess. As this date approached, world leaders and influential economists came out in force to reflect on the dangers failure would have for world trade.

BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Commerce said Thursday that it will impose anti-dumping duties on imports of optical fiber from the United States and the European Union. The duties will go into effect on April 22. The duty rates, ranging from 4.7 percent to 29.1 percent, depend on the dumping margin, or the difference between the average value of the product in the product's country of origin and its export price, the ministry said in a final ruling. The measure will remain in place for five years, according to the ministry.

GENEVA - The head of the World Trade Organization is hoping confessions will lead to concessions, which in turn may salvage the ailing Doha Round of trade liberalization talks that have been locked in limbo for almost a decade. Pascal Lamy received diplomats at hourly intervals Wednesday in an effort to hear all 153 member countries' views ahead of the Easter break and a grand plenary meeting in Geneva on April 29, when negotiators are expected to declare whether a Doha deal is still doable.

WASHINGTON — The White House announced on Tuesday thatPanama had satisfied a final condition for a free-trade pact with the United States, smoothing the way for President Obama to seek Congressional approval for three trade agreements inherited from the Bush

New Delhi, Apr 20 (PTI) India has imposed anti-dumping duty of up to USD 94.96 per tonne on imports of a chemical used in manufacture of alcohol and rubber, from Japan and Thailand to protect domestic players. The restrictive duty on import of glass fibre would be imposed for a period of five years, the Department of Revenue said. The duty would range between USD 94.96 per tonne to 85.85 per tonne on the imports of acetone from these two countries, it said.

WENZHOU, Zhejiang, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Since the European Union (EU) erased anti-dumping duties, shoemakers in east China's Zhejiang Province have shifted from a low-cost strategy to target the high-end EU market. Aokang Group Co., Ltd., one of 1,200 Chinese companies affected by the tariffs, is abandoning its low-cost strategy and forging ahead on a new path to avoid being involved in a new round of trade frictions with the EU.

SEOUL, April 19 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Lee Myung- bak on Tuesday asked visiting U.S. senators to make efforts to get a free trade agreement between Seoul and Washington endorsed soon, Lee's office said. Noting the South Korea-U.S. alliance is stronger than ever, Lee asked five senators, including Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky republican who seats as Senate Minority Leader, for support of U.S. Congress in further enhancing bilateral ties, according to Lee's office Cheong Wa Dae.

Turkey today said it will discuss opening up of their markets with India under a free trade agreement (FTA). "We will be discussing issues relating to non-tariff and tariff barriers under FTA with Indian authorities," Turkish Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan said here in his address to India-Turkey Business Forum. Both the countries are exploring the possibility of FTA to boost bilateral trade. The current two-way commerce is USD 3.14 billion and experts said an FTA between the two would significantly enhance the trade.

Following a previous delay while translation errors were corrected, approval of South Korea’s free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union was further delayed by a rejection from its parliamentary subcommittee on trade and foreign affairs.

Brazil and its most important trading partner, China, have agreed to key new bilateral trade deals, expected to generate USD1.5bn in business and lower barriers to entry to the Chinese market for higher added-value products from Brazil.