(Reuters) - The European Union said on Thursday it will soon take Russia to the World Trade Organisation to try to push Moscow to lift its ban on pork exports from the bloc, marking a deepening of trade tensions. Brussels says Moscow's reaction to an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Lithuania has been disproportionate because it has also been blocking all EU pork exporters, notably Danish, Dutch and German trucks.

As the United States continues negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), tobacco giant Philip Morris International Management SA has turned to former Rep. Bill Paxon, R-N.Y., and other Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld lobbyists for help.

A recent poll reveals a majority of Americans oppose giving President Obama the power to make an end run around the Constitution by “fast tracking” the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). In a press release issued by Communications Workers of America, survey results indicate that 62 percent of respondents totally oppose “having Congress give the president fast-track authority [aka Trade Promotion Authority] for a new Pacific trade agreement.”

UK Trade Minister Lord Livingston has called for a speedy conclusion to a planned trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Canada, which could benefit UK firms by up to GBP1.3bn (USD2.2bn) a year. Speaking during a trade mission to Canada, Livingston said that the deal "has real potential to create growth and jobs in both countries." The UK is currently Canada's top trading partner within the EU, and its second largest trade and investment partner after the US. The UK exported GBP4.2bn worth of goods to Canada in 2012, and GBP3.9bn in services.

(Reuters) - U.S. sugar industry groups on Friday accused Mexican exporters of dumping cheap, subsidized supplies on the U.S. market, firing the opening shot in a potential trade war after months of growing tension in the sweetener industry. In a petition to the U.S. International Trade Commission, which experts have called the first of its kind, the sugar cane and sugar beet groups said that "dumped and subsidized" imports would cost U.S. producers nearly $1 billion in net income in 2013-14.

BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- One with justice on his side doesn't always win. This is again the case for the World Trade Organization's (WTO) rare earth ruling last week. The ruling against China's regulation of its rare earth exports has sparked disappointment and dissatisfaction among the Chinese public, as they hold China has been unfairly treated. Although the decision was made in accordance with "established rules," it doesn't mean that the ruling was reasonable.

HANOI  (VNS) — The country's exports of wood and wooden products in the first quarter surged by 20.1 per cent against the same period last year to US$1.4 billion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). In March alone, wood and wooden product exports hit $490 million.

(Reuters) - Japan said on Friday it would be difficult to achieve a breakthrough in talks with the United States on a Pacific trade deal in time for President Barack Obama's trip to Asia next month unless Washington shows flexibility. The two sides had made "very slow but steady progress" in talks in Washington this week on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Japan's deputy chief trade negotiator Hiroshi Oe told reporters. Asked if a breakthrough was possible before Obama's visit to Japan and other parts of Asia from April 22, Oe said this would be "difficult."

U.S. Steel Corp., the largest U.S. producer of the metal by volume, said South Korea is dumping steel pipes and tubes in the U.S. South Korean steelmakers created a network of related companies in order to evade U.S. trade laws on so-called oil-country tubular goods, which are pipes and tubes used by oil and gas drillers, Mario Longhi, CEO of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, said in remarks prepared for the U.S. Congressional Steel Caucus, which is meeting Tuesday.

HA NOI (VNS)– Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade has announced that an anti-dumping duty would be imposed on bicycle tyres imported from Viet Nam. The information was provided by the Viet Nam Competition Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade on March 25. An anti-dumping duty of US$0.59 per kilogram has been imposed on Kenda Rubber (Viet Nam) Company Ltd, while a duty of US$2.8 per kilogram has been imposed on Link Fortune Tyre Tube Company Ltd, Viet Nam, and other exporters.