A new round of talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade scheme started on Aug. 22 in Brunei and will continue through Aug. 30. The United States, a leading force in the TPP talks, took the initiative in holding a ministerial-level meeting on the first two days of the talks. The U.S. apparently hopes to accelerate the talks so that they will be concluded by the end of this year.

WASHINGTON  — The Obama administration said Friday it won’t sacrifice the quality of a proposed trans-Pacific trade pact in the drive to complete negotiations by year’s end.

The United States and 11 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region have begun a final push to reach a landmark trade deal this year and hope for significant progress by an October meeting of leaders in Bali, the top US trade official said. "It's not surprising that at the final stage of negotiation, as we enter the end game, [the most sensitive issues] are left on the agenda," US Trade Representative Michael Froman said on his way back from a meeting in Brunei with his counterparts involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks.

The 12 countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations reaffirmed Friday their commitment to concluding a regional free trade agreement within this year as they wrapped up the ministerial meeting of their 19th round of talks in Brunei. But the ministers also indicated in a joint statement adopted at the end of their two-day meeting that difficult issues remain in numerous fields.

Japan is finally in. Last month marked the nation’s inaugural participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a regional trade agreement billed as having high standards worthy of the 21st century. This month’s 19th round of negotiations in Brunei (Aug. 22-31) will test Japan’s negotiation skills as a full participant. With Japan entering the TPP talks as the 12th member, several observations are worth mentioning.

The Harper government announced on Friday that Ottawa will play host next week to an intersessional Trans-paciffic Partnership negotiating round on the agreement’s labour chapter, which is odd because it won’t be in between sessions.  “To continue to move negotiations forward and resolve outstanding issues, TPP members have agreed to a regular schedule of technical work between official negotiating rounds,” the government press release says.

As part of an effort to increase economic cooperation between the two countries, and as a possible forerunner to a free trade agreement (FTA), Thailand and Pakistan are targeting a substantial increase in total bilateral trade to USD2bn in the next five years.

Brussels: The European Union(EU) has decided to terminate its anti-dumping investigation over China's steel fittings. The European Commission (EC), executive body the EU, said Wednesday that it decided to terminate anti-dumping proceeding concerning imports of stainless steel tube and pipe butt welding fittings originating from China, Xinhua reported.

HCM CITY (VNS)— Vietnamese firms have to be proactive and keep themselves updated on the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, a senior official said yesterday. The attitude will help them to effectively tackle challenges and opportunities that will arise from the multilateral agreement, Luong Van Ly, former deputy director of the HCM City Department of Planning and Investment, stressed.

Russia's membership in the World Trade Organization, the first anniversary of which was on Wednesday, has not had a negative impact on the country's economy and there are no plans to reconsider the conditions of Russia's accession to the trade body, the director of trade negotiations at the Economic Development Ministry, Maxim Medvedkov said in an interview with Interfax.