Nov 8 (Reuters) - Japan's Economy Minister Akira Amari said on Saturday he saw progress in Asia-Pacific regional trade negotiations, although it would be difficult to reach an agreement by the end of the year, according to Jiji press. Trade ministers from the 12 nations participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact held talks on the sidelines of an annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) meeting in Beijing.

(Reuters) - Australia said on Saturday it was pleased with progress on a long-planned free trade agreement with China and that it would be happy to conclude it by next week when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits. Xi will attend the G20 summit in Brisbane next week and then make a formal state visit. "I understand that our negotiators are very pleased with the progress," Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Beijing.

Economic projections clearly show that TTIP's potential gains are heavily dependent upon the extent to which non-tariff barriers to trade (NTBs) are eliminated. However, this also introduces a lot of uncertainty. Socially, it can sometimes impose costs by allowing economic efficiency and power over global regulatory schemes to trump a society's concerns. Economically, the effects of regulatory coordination are exceedingly difficult to estimate.

The U.S. trade watchdog concluded Thursday that South Korea’s non-oriented electrical steel (NOES) is causing damage to the domestic steel industry due to its low price.   The decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission will be followed by the U.S. Department of Commerce imposing six-point-88 percent of countervailing duty on the South Korean products.   South Korea’s biggest steelmaker POSCO produces NOES, which is a high value-added steel product, while Hyundai Corporation exports the product.  

A report earlier this month from the Canadian International Trade Tribunal concludes that the beneficial effects of anti-dumping and countervailing measures on the economy are often underestimated. Although the number of these measures decreased by 63% between 1989 and 2013, the 48 measures in place at the end of 2013 had affected 22,000 jobs, $7.7 billion in Canadian shipments, $0.5 billion in investment and $1.2 billion in imports.

(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.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- The International Trade Commission (ITC) of the United States on Thursday said in a final ruling that an American industry is materially injured by reason of imports of non-oriented electrical steel (NOES), a cold-rolled and flat-rolled alloy steel product, paving the way for the U.S. government to levy punitive duties on the products.

(Reuters) - India defied the world on Wednesday in a row over food stockpiling that has crippled attempts to reach a global trade agreement, raising doubts that backroom talks can reach a compromise before a Group of 20 summit this month. At the end of July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pulled the plug on implementing a so-called trade-facilitation deal struck in Bali last year, linking it to the emotive issue of rural poverty in his country of 1.25 billion people.

GENEVA: Pakistan launched a trade dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Wednesday to challenge the European Union’s (EU) punitive duties on Pakistani exports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the WTO said in a statement. Pakistan says the EU has broken WTO rules in the way that it imposed anti-subsidy duties on PET, which is used in synthetic fibres, plastic bottles and food containers.

The EU filed a new WTO challenge (DS485) against Russia last Friday, citing a series of alleged violations of Moscow’s tariff commitments at the global trade body. The move marks the fourth dispute that Brussels has lodged against Moscow in the two years since Russia joined the organisation, and comes as the two sides continue to suffer strained diplomatic ties over the Ukraine crisis.