(Reuters) - A group of lawmakers wants the United States to press Brunei to revoke Islamic criminal laws that they say jeopardize human rights under threat of being kicked out of Pacific free trade talks. Brunei is phasing in Islamic laws that will impose fines or jail terms for offenses such as pregnancy outside marriage and failure to perform Friday prayers in the East Asian nation. The sharia laws will ultimately punish sodomy and adultery with the death penalty, including by stoning.

(Reuters) - The European Union took another trade dispute with Russia to the World Trade Organisation on Wednesday, seeking to force Moscow to lift duties against German and Italian light commercial vehicles that Brussels says are illegal. Russia imposed duties of 29.6 percent on German van imports and 23 percent on imports from Italy a year ago, making them more expensive for consumers and hampering market access. The EU believes that Russia is illegally protecting its carmakers.

(Reuters) - Ministers from 12 nations trying to create a trans-Pacific trade pact said on Tuesday they have regained momentum in efforts to resolve the thorny issues of tariffs and market access, though they were unable to reach a final agreement. Speaking after a two-day meeting in Singapore, the ministers said recent bilateral talks between the United States and Japan had helped breathe life into stalled negotiations on the ambitious Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact.

SINGAPORE – Ministers from the 12 countries trying to hammer out the Trans-Pacific Partnership fell short of setting a clear timeline for ending the negotiations as they wrapped up a two-day meeting Tuesday in Singapore, although they stressed that progress was made on tariff issues. “We cemented our shared views on what is needed to bring negotiations to a close,” the ministers said in a joint statement following the meeting. They decided that the chief negotiators from the member countries will meet in July to further accelerate talks.

The 7th negotiation round of Vietnam – EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) was held from March 17 to 26, 2014 in Hanoi. Two sides have been active in accelerating negotiation in all aspects, especially is the fields both sides have benefits in.

The Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA), expected to be signed by October this year, would likely bring “win-win” opportunities of success for both sides’ business circles, according to experts at the business forum held recently in southern Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City. According to Jean-Jacques Bouflet, minister-counsellor and head of the Trade and Economic section of the EU delegation to Vietnam, the EU continued to be the most important market for many key exports of Vietnam.

The prospect of Taiwan joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the centerpiece initiative of a US rebalance toward Asia, is not the focus of attention in the US at this point, Joshua Meltzer, a fellow in Global Economy and Development at the Brookings Institution, said on Friday. “I don’t think the US really focuses on this question,” Meltzer told reporters.

The Vietnam Competition Authority has proposed the Ministry of Industry and Trade slap temporary anti-dumping tariffs on stainless steel items imported from China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan. In the petition, the authority suggested tariffs of between 6.45% and 6.99% on products from China, 12.03% on Indonesian products, 14.38% on Malaysian items and between 13.23% and 30.73% on products from Taiwan.

(Reuters) - Chinese container makers Singamas Container Holdings Ltd and China International Marine Containers (Group) Co Ltd (CIMC) said U.S. authorities were investigating them for anti-dumping practices. The probes are in response to a petition alleging the companies' 53-foot domestic dry containers are subsidised by the Chinese government and sold in the United States, both companies said in separate filings to the Hong Kong bourse on Monday.

SINGAPORE: The ninth ministerial meeting for the Trans Pacific Partnership opened this morning with the fewest participation of trade heads. Only six trade ministers from the 12-member grouping attended the morning session. They were Malaysia, Singapore, US, Australia, Japan and New Zealand. The others from Brunei, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Vietnam were represented either by their chief negotiators or senior government officials