Vietnam and the U.S. have vowed to closely coordinate in boosting cooperation between the two countries, including finalizing negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.  The vow was made at a reception hosted by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh for U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius in Hanoi on Thursday, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.

By the end of 2014, TPP members underwent 19 official rounds of negotiations and many others at chief negotiator and ministerial levels along with high-level meetings.They had finalized negotiations on cooperation and capacity building; Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs); For the development, cohesion policy and the environment facilitating the supply chain; Customs; Food safety and animal and plant quarantine; Telecommunications; Competition policy (not including the issue of State-owned enterprises). 

The proposed ASEAN Economic Community could offer new market opportunities for nations such as Japan that are currently in talks to form the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a Malaysian minister has said.Abdul Wahid Omar, who serves in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Economic Planning, said in an interview in Davos, Switzerland, that members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have so far implemented 80 percent of the initiatives needed to enable such integration, and that they aim to bring the AEC into existence by the end of this year.

In principle, almost everyone's in favor of free trade. It promotes international harmony, raises wages, helps economies grow. It's an article of historical faith that the enactment of harsh protective U.S. tariffs in 1930 contributed to the Great Depression. And who wants that?

(Reuters) - The Obama administration is confident lawmakers will warm up to a proposed Pacific free trade deal on the grounds it is a chance for the United States, rather than China, to dictate the rules of Asian trade, a top official said on Thursday. "It's a choice between us writing it and, frankly, China writing it, which I think is very compelling to many members of Congress," Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews said during a call to announce more support for rural exporters, such as by promoting more trade shows and workshops.

TOKYO -- Japan and the U.S. are inching closer to an agreement on import tariffs on U.S. agricultural products as part of the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade talks.An agreement between the two countries is crucial as failure to strike a deal among the member countries by spring could derail the entire process. Washington has been calling for an elimination of all tariffs.   

MANILA - President Benigno S. Aquino III is keen on the Philippines joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade area spearheaded by the United States.During a forum in Singapore, the President said the government is studying the benefits of joining the TPP before it makes a decision.

(Reuters) - There will be no "major announcement" on a Washington-backed Asia-Pacific free trade deal during a meeting of leaders from the region in Beijing this week, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said on Sunday.Few expected that a deal on the ambitious 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could be reached this year, largely because of a deadlock between the pact's two biggest economies, the United States and Japan, over how widely Japan will open its doors to farm exports.

US President Barack Obama said on Monday he sees momentum building for a Washington-backed free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific, after arriving in Beijing on the first leg of an eight-day Asia tour.U.S officials have ruled out a major announcement on the ambitious 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Beijing, where Obama will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

(Reuters) - China said on Friday it hoped U.S.-led Asia-Pacific free-trade talks would be transparent and China would be open to joining them, playing down controversy over competing U.S. and Chinese visions for regional trade.Ministers from 12 countries negotiating a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact will meet in Beijing over the weekend to discuss the deal ahead of a gathering of leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.