Berlin, Jan 28: Germany and India are hoping for quick progress in talks on a free-trade deal between New Delhi and the European Union, their foreign ministers said today.“It is in our German, our European interests to comprehensively establish and strategically expand our ties with this new powerhouse, this important power, India,” Germany’s Guido Westerwelle said after talks in Berlin with his Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid.

DAVOS, Switzerland — President Barack Obama is committed to reaching an agreement to smooth trade with the European Union, the United States’ top negotiator has said, but only if it is constructed in a way that would overcome objections from farm groups and that could win congressional approval.

World Trade Organization members need to agree on topics related to trade facilitation, agriculture and developing countries by the middle of the year to reach a deal at the ninth ministerial conference in December in Bali, Director-General Pascal Lamy said.

SANTIAGO (Reuters) — The United States and the European Union are wrapping up final preparations for talks on a free-trade agreement that would encompass half the world’s economic output, Europe’s trade chief said on Saturday, while warning of "difficult negotiations."EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht will travel to Washington on February 5 to put the finishing touches on a joint EU-U.S. report. He gave his clearest signal yet that Brussels and Washington are ready to embark on the accord.

Jan 26 (Reuters) - Chile hopes to sign a free trade agreement with Thailand soon and is seeking to expand a limited one it has with India, as the Andean country looks to deepen its open, export-dependent model, foreign affairs minister Alfredo Moreno said on Saturday.The country is also working on broader agreements, including with fellow Pacific Alliance members Colombia, Mexico and Peru as well as negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Argentina suspended a trade complaint against the European Union over Spanish biofuel curbs after Spain dropped its plan.

How do you land a job when most every nation in the world has a vote? Talk. A lot.And what better place to do it than the annual global gabfest sponsored by the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland?

Inside U.S. Trade reports that USTR has begun an “internal review of the controversial pharmaceutical patent proposal that U.S. trade officials tabled” earlier in the TPP negotiations. However, USTR has also signaled new text will not be ready by the next round of negotiations in Singapore in March. The initial U.S. proposal centered around an “access window,” granting TRIPS plus protection to firms that introduced their products within a certain period of time.

Japan should use the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade framework to revitalize its economy, former Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi said in a recent interview.“Japan can use the TPP to take advantage of economic dynamism in the Asia-Pacific region and revitalize its own economy. This kind of thinking is necessary,” said Yachi, adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on diplomatic affairs.

THE PHILIPPINES could finally seek entry to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after President Benigno S. C. Aquino III again expressed interest in a meeting with US business leaders yesterday.“They [businessmen] asked questions on TPP. The President said we are interested in pursuing the TPP,” said Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo, who was present at the meeting