WASHINGTON —A top U.S. senator says he will underscore the need for Japan to open its markets to more U.S. exports if it wants join regional free trade talks between the United States and ten other countries in the Asia Pacific. “I’d like to see Japan participate (in the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership pact), but it’s largely up to Japan,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus told Reuters. Baucus said he believed reaching a TPP agreement would boost jobs throughout the region, creating a powerful incentive for Japan to join the negotiations.

Aug 23 (Reuters) - In a move that escalates a trade row with the United States, China said it would ask the World Trade Organization (WTO) to adjudicate a dispute over U.S. punitive import duties on 22 Chinese exports, including solar panels and steel products.

The next negotiating round of the Trans- Pacific Partnership will take place Leesburg, Virginia from September 6-15, 2012. USTR will be hosting a Direct Stakeholder Engagement event on Sunday, September 9, 2012. This event will provide stakeholders the opportunity to speak directly and one-on-one with negotiators, raise questions, and share their views. We tried this approach two rounds ago in Dallas, and most stakeholders expressed their preference for this one-on-one engagement.

It took nearly 20 years of negotiations, but Russia was finally welcomed into the World Trade Organization on Wednesday. The largest economy outside the WTO until now, Russia will become the international trade group’s156th member. The U.S. joined in 1995, China in late 2001. The last member to be accepted was Montenegro in April.

(Reuters) - Russia's 19-year wait to enter the World Trade Organisation is finally over. Unfortunately, the kind of export and investment miracle enjoyed by fellow-BRIC China after it joined the club is likely to remain well out of its reach. China too waited 15 years on the WTO's doorstep. But for Beijing, joining in 2001 set the stage for a decade that quintupled its exports and propelled its economy from sixth place globally to the world's second biggest.

(Reuters) - A top senator on Tuesday said he will underscore the need for Japan to open its markets to more U.S. exports if it wants join regional free trade talks between the United States and ten other countries in the Asia Pacific. "I'd like to see Japan participate (in the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership pact), but it's largely up to Japan," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus told Reuters in a phone interview on his way to talks in Tokyo.

WASHINGTON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - A study released on Tuesday warned the United States could lose 2,600 auto industry jobs and thousands more in the broader economy if Japan is allowed to join a proposed free trade pact at the center of President Barack Obama's trade agenda. "We firmly believe a free trade agreement with Japan will lock in one-sided trade benefits that Japan enjoys today at the expense of U.S. auto jobs," Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, told reporters.

Aug 21 (Reuters) - The United States and Japan have launched complaints at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over Argentina's import licensing rules, which they say discriminate against foreign goods, the trade body said on Tuesday. The complaints follow similar litigation brought by the European Union in May.

The business community is an ardent supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade agreement being negotiated among 11 Pacific Rim countries. It will make business easier for our exporters and since international business accounts for over two thirds of New Zealand's economic activity, freer trade should make us all wealthier. But there is a lot of work to be done in removing trade barriers. Canada for instance has tariffs on dairy products ranging between 200 and 300 percent.

During a two-day visit to Canada, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, with the discussions focussing on the ongoing crisis in the eurozone as well as on the planned free trade agreement between Canada and the European Union (EU). According to the German government, the aim of Chancellor Merkel’s visit was to strengthen political ties between the two countries, to enhance trade relations, and to further develop scientific relations.