May 3 (Reuters) - Indonesia could make a complaint to the World Trade Organization if the European Union imposes penalties over the country's biodiesel exports and subsidies, an industry group said on Friday, after the two sides reached a standoff in talks. Indonesian government and industry officials held two days of biodiesel talks with EU delegates in Jakarta last week, to resolve a long-running probe into dumping and illegal subsidies.

New York — The U.S. trade representative asked the U.S. International Trade Commission on Tuesday to investigate the likely economic effects of allowing duty-free imports of products from Japan, which just recently joined the ongoing talks for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In a letter to the ITC, acting USTR Demetrios Marantis asked the trade agency to consider what impact removing all duties on imported Japanese products would have on both domestic industries and on U.S. consumers.

The Obama Administration has continued negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement behind doors closed to the media and without the Congressional involvement that was requested by Congress. Besides being a threat to our national sovereignty as I discussed in a previous blog, it is time to shine the light on another egregious provision that would hurt American manufacturers.

Members of ASEAN have agreed in the 22nd ASEAN Summit in Brunei Darussalam that they will set up regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP) to prepare ASEAN to compete economically on the world stage. The recent summit, which was held on April 25th , in Brunei has seen the rise of economic, social, culture and stability cooperation among members as the arrival of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is only a few years away.

Japan’s TPP membership paves the way to build a genuinely Asia-Pacific platform for economic integration by enlisting a major economy in the region and creating incentives for other countries to follow.On April 16, 2013, acting US Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis announced that Washington approved Japan’s entry into negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, a critical step for Tokyo’s inclusion in a regional trade pact that underpins the efforts of its ambition in reshaping the Pacific economically and politically.

MEXICO CITY — Delivery trucks from Mexico line up early in the morning at the border crossing in Tijuana, where 20 million flat-screen TVs were manufactured last year. Traffic studies found cargo trucks, even empty ones, wait 90 minutes on average to cross into the USA as U.S. Customs agents check vehicles for contraband, and then spend at least an hour waiting to get back into Tijuana.

Taipei, May 2 (CNA) Taiwan's representative office in Japan has set up a task force for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) -- a proposed free trade group made up of Pacific-Rim countries -- that will boost information exchanges with Japan on the issue, an official said Thursday.

India is considering emergency tariffs on some iron and steel pipes, tubes and profiles to protect its domestic industry from imports, primarily from China and Italy, Delhi said in a World Trade Organization filing seen by Reuters.

It is almost certain that Japan will join the talks for the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade scheme as the 11 countries now involved in the talks have reached a broad agreement to accept Japan’s participation. Because it will take the U.S. Congress at least 90 days to approve the decision, Japan cannot begin taking part in the talks until late July. The earliest possible date is July 24.

The United States said on Tuesday it was prepared to examine how agricultural policy reform could boost global food security as part of a package of commitments at the World Trade Organization's upcoming meeting in December. "The United States agrees with India and other proponents that enhancing food security in developing countries is indeed an important issue for this body to address," U.S. Ambassador to the WTO Michael Punke said in Geneva, according to a text of his remarks released in Washington.