The second round of negotiations toward a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the US and European Union (EU) will take place in Brussels next week. Speaking ahead of the talks, European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said that he will "be pressing for an ambitious outcome on a number of key issues in the interests of the EU and ultimately both sides."

(Reuters) - Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim haven't agreed on much, if anything, in the 15 years since the latter was ousted from Mahathir's government and then jailed on sodomy and corruption charges. But a U.S.-led trade pact - the most ambitious since the demise of the Doha round of global talks - has succeeded in uniting the great rivals in condemnation of what they see as a U.S. plot to impose its economic model on Asia.

The top U.S. trade official expressed optimism Monday that the European Union and the United States can overcome the single biggest obstacle to free trade: their different takes on regulation. “Over decades, the differences in our regulatory and standards approaches have created unnecessary barriers — raising costs, deterring trade and investment and negatively impacting our competitiveness and our consumers,” U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in a speech at the German Marshall Fund in Brussels, a key stop on his two-day swing through Europe.

The upcoming session of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations and meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to be held in Bali, Indonesia, are expected to be closely watched for progress. Summit and ministerial meetings of the two groups will be held in parallel from Tuesday to Oct. 8. Participating countries in the TPP talks aim to conclude their negotiations by year-end, and the focus of attention will be whether a basic agreement to be presented at their summit meeting will have substantive contents.

The Vietnam Steel Association has warned China of possible punitive duties on steel it says that country dumps on an already struggling market. In a warning note sent to Xu Le Jiang, chairman of the China Steel Association, the VSA said it is concerned over cheap Chinese steel products affecting the Vietnamese industry. It warned of a possible anti-dumping tax on cold-rolled coil and steel alloy with 0.0008 percent boron, a non-metallic element Chinese producers have added to steel to get tax breaks since at least 2009.

WASHINGTON—A four-day meeting in the U.S. capital of top negotiators from countries participating in Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade talks highlighted how difficult it is for the participants to close gaps in contentious areas.

HA NOI (VNS)  — Textile and garment enterprises in southern Dong Nai Province have, according to the regulations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), made great efforts to improve production The move aims to help them take the advantages of the agreement in export activities after the expected signing of the agreement at year's end. Nguyen Dinh Truong, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), said after the TPP is signed, Viet Nam's textile and garment industry will have more advantages to develop further.

SINGAPORE'S Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Grace Fu said it would be difficult to pinpoint a date to conclude the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), an Asia-Pacific free trade agreement that would encompass a third of the world's economic output.

With no end in sight to the solar products trade dispute between the United States and China, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the sector's national trade association, has offered a compromise between the two countries' solar industries. "This proposed settlement is a win all the way around," said SEIA President and CEO Rhone Resch. "It would actually lower costs to Chinese manufacturers for the export of solar cells and modules to the US, and it would improve US manufacturers' ability to compete fairly on an even playing field."

SEJONG, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's trade commission has recognized damage to five local firms from the country's bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union, the government said Friday. In a meeting held earlier in the day, the National Trade Commission accepted claims from three local pork processing companies that have suffered damage from the growing market share of European suppliers, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a press release.