HA NOI (VNS)  — Viet Nam was the number one fish provider for Colombia in 2013, with a 36 per cent market share in the South American country. It was followed by Argentina (9 per cent), Cote d'lvoire (8 per cent) and Ecuador (8 per cent). Colombia imported 78,000 tonnes of fish worth US$188 million last year, up 41 per cent in volume compared to the previous year, according to the Virtual Business Centre (Centro Virtual de Negocios - CVN). Tuna and tra fish made up 19 and 16 per cent of frozen fish imports respectively.

Japan has called on Thailand to support Asean+6 negotiations aimed at driving economic growth and bringing down non-tariff barriers, while encouraging the Kingdom to tighten cooperation under the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (Jtepa).

Nine years after negotiations began, Canada and South Korea have signed a free trade agreement (CKFTA) that will eliminate duties on nearly all tariff lines. The deal was inked on September 22 by the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and the South Korean President, Park Geun-hye.

TOKYO -- Negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed free trade agreement among 12 Pacific Rim countries, are drifting dangerously. To break the deadlock in the talks, Akira Amari, Japan's minister for economic and fiscal policy, who is also in charge of the TPP talks for Japan, will visit the U.S. starting Tuesday for discussions with U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman.

BEIJING, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- Free trade talks between South Korea and China have reached a "critical stage," a Seoul delegate said Monday, suggesting that both sides were stepping up efforts to produce a breakthrough toward a deal. The delegate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, made the remarks as South Korea and China kicked off the 13th round of free trade talks in Beijing earlier in the day, with both sides having hinted that a deal could be possible by the end of this year in spite of differences over sensitive issues.

For the first time, economic measures are being applied to a member state capable of large-scale retaliation. Previous instances of politically-motivated sanctions concerned countries of a different caliber. Take, for example, sanctions against Argentina over the Falklands conflict, or sanctions against Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

(Reuters) - U.S.-Japan trade talks hit a rough patch this week with both sides blaming the other for a stalemate over farm exports, a major hurdle in concluding an ambitious 12-nation trade pact. Bilateral talks between U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari in Washington broke up early on Wednesday, midway through the second day, according to people close to the talks.

TORONTO, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- After five-year negotiations, Canada and the European Union have finalized a trade agreement that is expected to open markets on both sides of the Atlantic to tariff-free trade worth billions of dollars. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) was signed Friday in Ottawa by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, European Council President Herman Van Rompuyand and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. The final text of the deal has also been released.

(Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Commerce on Thursday confirmed duties on imports of specialized steel from China, South Korea and Russia. Imports of grain-oriented electrical steel from China, including from Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd, face the highest duties as the goods were found to have been both sold in the United States too cheaply or dumped, and produced using unfair government subsidies.

(Reuters) - The U.S. business lobby on Thursday questioned the reformist credentials of new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the eve of his visit to the United States in which he will encourage investment and declare India open for business. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 15 other U.S. business associations representing sectors ranging from agriculture to movie making, pharmaceuticals and telecoms, called on President Barack Obama to press Modi to remove barriers to fair trade when the two leaders meet in Washington on Monday and Tuesday.