Five meat and poultry organisations have thanked President Barack Obama for the Administration’s efforts in the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. The letter, delivered late yesterday, stated:

HA NOI (VNS)— The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) would bring challenges, as well as improved export opportunities for Viet Nam when the AEC is formed in 2015, according to experts. The AEC marks the commitment of ASEAN leaders to building and promoting a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region tempered with equitable development, and a region fully integrated into the global economy.

The U.S. has allowed Japan to exclude rice in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, but has asked the Japanese government to increase imports of U.S. rice, according to local sources. The Japanese government is struggling to keep Japanese rice competitive due to high production costs and declining consumption in Japan.

WASHINGTON – With U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Tokyo approaching, Japanese and U.S. trade chiefs are set to face off again in Washington as they strive to break a deadlock in talks on a massive free trade zone in the Pacific region.

It was suggested that the pace of negotiations on the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries should be quickened, following a recent visit by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to China.

(Reuters) - Russia is looking at the possibility of filing a lawsuit against the United States in the World Trade Organisation over sanctions hitting Russian banks, Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said on Wednesday, according to Russian news agencies. St Petersburg-based Bank Rossiya was sanctioned alongside its chairman and largest shareholder Yuri Kovalchuk in March as part of punitive measures by Washington over Russia's annexation of Crimea.

(Reuters) - China said on Thursday it would appeal against a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling that found it violated global trade rules with its export limits on rare earth minerals used in defense and technology products. China lost a WTO dispute in March, handing Europe and the United States a victory over what they see as China's unfair trade practices. "China will make the utmost efforts in the appeals process," Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang told reporters at a monthly briefing.

WASHINGTON – Japan and the United States hold working-level talks on the multilateral Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade initiative in Washington from Tuesday (15/04) to Thursday (16/04), the office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Saturday. The talks will be held between Hiroshi Oe, deputy chief TPP negotiator, and Takeo Mori, ambassador for economic diplomacy, from Japan and acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler from the United States.

Trade Minister Tim Groser is not impressed by Australia's free trade agreement with Japan and hopes it will be ignored by the United States within the Trans Pacific Partnership. He was aware there had been some very sharp criticism of the deal by the United States. "I take note of that - I'm a trained diplomat so that's what I say in those situations," he told the Herald. "I think what that means is the Americans are not going to take a blind bit of notice of this in terms of setting their level of ambition on agriculture in TPP.

The Economic Partnership Agreement that Japan recently signed with Australia (JAEPA) has everything to do with Japanese trade strategy and little if anything to do with agricultural reform. Some of the commentary on the agreement has argued that JAEPA was the product of Abe’s reform agenda, but it is neither part of that agenda nor will it advance it.Other factors were at stake — chiefly relating to Abe’s trade strategy.