BANGKOK, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Thai government is considering to slash import tariffs on selected items of luxury products, local media reported on Tuesday. The Finance Ministry plans to seek the Cabinet's approval for cutting the duties from currenct 30-40 percent to 0-5 percent within one month or two. Perfumes, watches and clothing will be the first three categories to benefit from the cut.

(Reuters) - World trade is expected to grow by 2.5 percent this year and 4.5 percent in 2014, the World Trade Organisation's new chief, Roberto Azevedo, said on Monday, revising down previous estimates of 3.3 percent and 5 percent. In his press conference since taking the helm on Sept 1, Azevedo said the figures would be detailed in a report due out on Sept 19. He said the forecasts had been cut because the European economy had not recovered in the second quarter of this year as expected, but gave no further details.

As part of outreach efforts under the recently-launched United States-European Union (EU) Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) negotiations, American small businesses will have the opportunity to voice their concerns on existing barriers to trade with Europe through a series of roundtables across the country.

(VOV) - Vietnam earned nearly US$280 million from shrimp exports in August, up 38 percent on last year’s same period, bringing the total shrimp export value to US$1.67 billion in the first eight months. Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) General Secretary Truong Dinh Hoe says that the price of shrimp will continue to increase while its export turnover is expected to grow considerably in the remaining months of the year.

The World Trade Organization said on August 30, 2013 that the Dispute Settlement Body set up a panel to examine the European Union's complaint against Chinese anti-dumping duties on high-performance stainless steel tubes from the EU.

VANCOUVER, BC--Entering into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could boost Canadian exports by $15.7 billion by securing new trading partners in the Asia-Pacific Region, says a new study published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

Malaysia has always been a trading nation. Melaka in the 15th century was the main trading hub in South-East Asia and as we are situated at the crossroads of Asia; our trading nature if a given.

MOSCOW, July 9 (RIA Novosti) – The World Trade Organization may start hearing in September the first dispute between Russia and the European Union since Moscow joined the organization, if the two sides fail to settle the issue of Russia's vehicle recycling levy out of court, the Economic Development Ministry reported on Tuesday. The EU will launch its claim against Russia at the WTO later on Tuesday, challenging Moscow's recycling levy on imported cars, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing EU diplomatic sources.

This week, trade delegates met in San Francisco to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement's e-commerce chapter. It's likely that this secret chapter carries provisions that whittle away at user data protetions. But we weren't able to say so at this meeting. Not only have they neglected to notify digital rights groups—including EFF, which is based in San Francisco—about the meeting, we could not even discover where it was taking place.

(Reuters) - Yemen's 13 year pursuit of a seat at the World Trade Organization is set to end successfully this month, making its entry into the global trade club a formality early next year. According to an agenda circulated to WTO members this week and seen by Reuters on Friday, the WTO working party on Yemen's accession will meet on Sept. 26 "with a view to adopting" the key documents setting out its membership terms.