President Truong Tan Sang urged the US government to recognise Vietnam as a market economy while receiving US Trade Representative Ronald Kirk in Hanoi on September 3.  Sang further said Vietnam always attaches importance to relations with the United States and welcomed the developments in bilateral ties. 

New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser has confirmed he will bid for the top job at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Mr Groser is in Asia to attend the APEC ministerial meeting in Vladivostok this week after talks with trade ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Cambodia. "All I want to do is to make sure that there are some names out there that give the membership a choice," he told AAP in Bangkok.

SINGAPORE–The top U.S. trade negotiator said he doesn’t see plans for an Asia-only trade pact that would bind China and Japan to other economies throughout the region as a threat to U.S. economic interests. Instead, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said he wants to accelerate efforts to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, which includes a handful of Southeast Asian countries but excludes China and Japan, at least for now.

The first round of free trade agreement talks between Vietnam and Korea kicked off on Monday in Seoul. During the talks that will continue until Tuesday, the two countries will discuss how to proceed with the negotiations. Seoul’s foreign ministry expects the bilateral trade pact to enhance an existing free trade agreement with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations that took effect in 2007.

(Reuters) - Argentina has filed its third trade complaint in two weeks, the World Trade Organization said on Monday, challenging U.S. laws that it says have blocked imports of fresh lemons from the northwestern region of Argentina. The United States, Japan and Mexico filed trade complaints about Argentina's import licensing policies two weeks ago, prompting Argentina to say it would hit back with complaints over U.S. beef and lemons. It filed the complaint about beef on August 30.

PTI/NEW DELHI: India has asked Japan to remove all non-tax barriers to help the domestic industry take advantage of the comprehensive free-trade agreement and increase share in the Japanese market. The issue was flagged by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma in his meeting with Japanese minister of economy, trade and industry Yukio Edano last week in Cambodia. Both the ministers met on the sidelines of the 44th ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting.

Russia’s leadership in APEC is about to reach its zenith next week when APEC Economic Leaders meet in Vladivostok for their next annual summit. Analysts and stakeholders have seen the summit as a unique opportunity for Russia to articulate its Pacific vision, but what’s really on Russia’s agenda for the APEC summit?

The agriculture ministry has estimated that annual production from agriculture, forestry and fisheries could fall by ¥3.4 trillion if Japan joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement, ministry sources said Friday. The estimate is for a scenario in which Japan would repeal tariffs on agricultural, forestry and fisheries imports under the TPP with the 11 planned participating countries, including the United States.

(Reuters) - The Russian government remains hopeful the U.S. Congress will approve a bill to upgrade bilateral trade relations, despite a potentially tough political climate heading into U.S. elections in November, Russian officials said on Friday. "We are optimistic. We need to be optimistic," Alexey Drobinin, senior counselor at the Russian Embassy in Washington, told reporters. "We think that expanding trade relations is a good way to broaden our overall relationship."

(Reuters) - Argentina on Friday accused the United States of unfairly blocking imports of Argentine beef, ratcheting up trade tensions with its large neighbor to the north. The South American country is the world's third largest exporter of beef after Brazil and Australia. But it has been shut out of the United States for years because of restrictions imposed by Washington to block the spread of foot-and-mouth disease in cattle.