HA NOI (VNS)— Earnings from wood exports are predicted to exceed US$3.77 billion for the first nine months of this year, up 12 per cent on 2012 figures, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). Wood produce saw strong growth in shipments made to the US, South Korea, Japan and China; driven by demand increases in most countries; including by 7.8 per cent in the US, 17.1 per cent in China, 20.3 per cent in Japan and 49 per cent in South Korea.

TOKYO, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Japan hosted Thursday a working group meeting of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade talks, marking the first one that was held in the latest TPP member. The meeting that will end Monday mainly focused on one of the most difficult negotiations covering intellectual property, including patent terms for new drugs, as the 12 involving countries planned to conclude an overall TPP deal by the end of this year.

The European Commission is to hold a fourth High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue (HED) with China this week. The talks will take place in Brussels on October 24, and will cover trade and investment issues, customs cooperation, the challenges facing the international economy, and future sources of growth. The HED will be co-chaired by the Commission's Vice President Oli Rehn, its Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, and the Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai.

One of the very first acts of the very first Congress of the United States was to impose tariffs on imported gloves, hats, and clothing.

MALAYSIA risks losing out to other countries if it refrains from joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement as its reluctance may impede investments trickling into the country.Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia senior fellow and Assoc Prof of Law Dr Sufian Jusoh said foreign direct investments (FDIs) into Malaysia may be affected if the country chose not to sign on the dotted line.

Twelve countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations will hold a ministerial meeting Dec. 7 to 9 in Singapore, with an aim to conclude a deal by year-end, official sources said Monday. The ministerial sessions will be the stage for the countries to make a thrust toward resolving difficult issues such as tariff eliminations, with Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Chile aiming to eliminate all tariffs, while countries like Japan seek to keep some to protect sensitive domestic industries.

(Reuters) - European Union member states agreed to impose punitive duties on imports of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia, which are accused of selling it into the bloc at unfairly low prices, according to diplomats. A majority of the EU members on Tuesday backed the European Commission's view that producers in the two countries were dumping - selling at below fair market or cost price.

MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti) – A senior Russian official said Monday that Moscow may file an official complaint with the World Trade Organization against the European Union’s practice of imposing anti-dumping duties on Russian steel and fertilizers. RIA Novosti financial news service Prime cited Aleksei Likhachev, deputy head of the Economic Development Ministry, as saying the EU uses inaccurate prices when considering duties for Russian imports. “They think that we are dumping value,” Likhachev said.

Japan and the European Union began their third round of free trade negotiations in Brussels on Monday, aiming to engage in full-fledged discussions on tariffs and other trade barriers. The Japanese delegation represented by Jun Yokota, ambassador in charge of economic diplomacy, and the EU team headed by Mauro Petriccione, director for Asian and Latin American trade at the European Commission, are taking part in the five days of talks, which also cover nontariff barriers, through Friday.

For more than a decade, the business sector has been telling governments to shift the focus of regional economic integration. Dealing with across-the-border problems of connectivity and behind-the-border problems caused by needless differences in economic regulations is now more important to business than further liberalisation of border barriers to trade or investment. A recent report by the World Economic Forum concludes that reducing supply chain barriers to trade could increase world GDP ‘over six times more than removing all tariffs’.