U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman formally delivered the United States’ letter of acceptance of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement to WTO Director General Roberto Azevêdo today in Davos, Switzerland.  The delivery of the letter is the final step that the United States must take toward the entry into force of this hard won agreement that promises to improve trade efficiency and is projected to generate hundreds of billions of dollars in economic activity.

(Reuters) - Japan has offered to import more rice from the United States in a compromise aimed at pushing forward the Asia-Pacific regional trade talks, the Nikkei reported on Sunday. A stand-off between the United States and Japan over access to farm and auto markets has been holding up negotiations over the 12-nation trade pact, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) approved the antidumping duties on solar products from China and Taiwan. Customs duties of more than 50 % will be imposed on solar modules made in China and approximately 20 % duties on solar modules from Taiwan.

EU-US trade talks are “in troubled waters” and need a “fresh start for parliament to approve an agreement”, the chairman of the assembly’s international trade committee has said. Speaking on Wednesday (21 January), Bernd Lange, a German centre-left MEP who authored the parliament’s initial recommendations based on the past 18 months of talks, urged the European Commission, which is negotiating on behalf of the EU, to be more open about the progress of negotiations.

The EU and Vietnam today completed the eleventh round of negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The talks were held in Brussels, on 19-23 January 2015. Both teams made further progress on all outstanding issues and are working towards a swift conclusion of the negotiations.

Negotiators from the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and Vietnam met in Ho Chi Minh City from January 13 to 16, 2015, for an 11th round of negotiations towards removing taxes on cross-border trade under the framework of a free trade agreement. Talks were held in all areas expected to be covered by the agreement and progress was said to have been made on a number of topics. The two sides agreed to meet again in April.

BEIJING, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between China and Switzerland has brought concrete benefits to both sides and set a good example for China-EU cooperation. When meeting with President of the Swiss Confederation Simonetta Sommaruga in the Swiss ski resort of Davos on Wednesday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that both sides should further implement the FTA, expand two-way investment and deepen cooperation in high-end manufacturing and modern agriculture so as to benefit the two countries.

President Jacob Zuma says African countries are already working together to remove red tape that hinders intra-African trade. The President said while doing business in the continent was not easy, African Heads of State were already tackling all the bottlenecks seen to be preventing local and foreign investors to move freely across borders. President Zuma was participating in a debate hosted by the CNBC Africa on the side-lines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.

BEIJING - A U.S. trade panel's move to impose import duties on solar products made in China and Taiwan will cause "serious harm", Beijing said Thursday, warning of the decision's global repercussions. The statement from China's Commerce Ministry came one day after the U.S. International Trade Commission paved the way for duty orders on imports of certain crystalline silicon photovoltaic products, saying that they were being dumped and unfairly subsidized.

While trade between India and US has grown over the past decade - from $24 billion in 2003 to over $90 billion in 2013 - there are significant opportunities to deepen the relations between the two countries. With US President Barack Obama's visit to the country later this month, the ties are expected to get stronger.