Canada's hectic international trade agenda is about to get even busier, as it takes new steps toward formal free trade negotiations with Mercosur, the trading bloc that includes the key South American markets of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, CBC News has learned.

The EU's Trade Commissioner has said she is certain that the EU will reach a free trade agreement with the UK, despite a number of pre-conditions being placed on negotiations starting.

A five-year-old U.S.-South Korean trade deal could be improved to increase access for American vehicles and deter currency manipulation, but changes will not necessarily shrink the U.S. trade deficit with the Asian export powerhouse.

The three-year-old free trade agreement with Vietnam will allow South Korean companies to further increase their auto, steel and petrochemical exports on tax removal or cuts, customs experts said Thursday.

Japan will not make concessions on issues such as farm tariffs in two-way trade talks with the United States as it did for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso told the Nikkei business daily in an interview.

The three-year-old free trade agreement with Vietnam will allow South Korean companies to further increase their auto, steel and petrochemical exports on tax removal or cuts, customs experts said Thursday.

THE PHILIPPINES is calling for closer trade ties with Vietnam to widen the two countries’ domestic and export markets while making the most of the advantages offered by their separate trade agreements with other territories.

U.S. President Donald Trump told the leaders of Canada and Mexico on Wednesday that he will not terminate the NAFTA treaty at this stage, but will move quickly to begin renegotiating it with them, a White House statement said.

China says its Silk Road initiative is helping create "a new era of globalization" open to all, according to a draft communique for a summit next month on the project, as Beijing burnishes its free trade credentials amid protectionist forces elsewhere.

The government announced Tuesday that it has appointed a deputy foreign minister as chief negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact, with an eye to bringing the deal into force without the United States.