China has asked the World Trade Organization to set up a panel of experts to deal with long-running disputes over U.S anti-dumping measures against warmwater shrimp and diamond saw blades, China's Ministry of Commerce said Friday. The U.S. practice of "zeroing" in the two anti-dumping cases violates WTO rules and damages the legitimate rights of the companies involved, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

BEIJING, Oct.14 -- China needs to update its definition of luxury goods and adjust the tariffs on imported luxury goods accordingly, a senior Customs official said on Thursday. The country is rumored to have plans to cut tariffs on a host of imported luxury goods this year to attract domestic consumers, many of whom go overseas to purchase such products or buy them online.

Oct 14 (Reuters) - Japan and South Korea fired a warning shot at Brazil's treatment of foreign carmakers by raising the tax issue at a committee of the World Trade Organization, a trade official with knowledge of the complaint said on Friday. "It's a warning," the official said after the closed-door meeting of the WTO's committee on market access. "It says, 'We are worried, what are you going to do?'"

Now that Congress approved the long-delayed free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama on Wednesday night, trade experts want lawmakers to harness the momentum and turn their attention to other potential deals in what is seen as a way to boost the economy and create jobs. There’s talk of completing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would open up Asian markets, as well as getting Russia to join the World Trade Organization. The U.S. also could reach out to the European Union and Brazil.

Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) Economic officials said Thursday that a free trade agreement (FTA) approved a day earlier between the United States and South Korea will have an impact on local companies to the tune of around US$11.84 billion per year. The Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) said the U.S.-Korea pact will influence 34.1 percent of all Taiwan-made products exported to the U.S.

(Reuters) - The Obama administration, under fire for not taking a harder line on China over its currency, appears set to move against the Asia export powerhouse on other fronts as next year's U.S. elections approach. The United States is likely to launch fresh challenges against China at the World Trade Organization, probably stoking tensions between the world's two biggest economies.

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have, in quick succession, passed implementing legislation for the long-awaited United States free trade agreements (FTAs) with South Korea, Panama and Colombia, which will now be passed to President Barack Obama for his signature.

Negotiations between Russia and Georgia on the former country's World Trade Organization (WTO) accession remain deadlocked, according to Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergi Kapanadze.

WELLINGTON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser Thursday welcomed the ratification with strong bipartisan support in the United States Congress of the U.S. free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia, and Korea. "This is exactly the shot in the arm that our own trade negotiations with the United States and our other partners in the TPP, or Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations, need," said Groser.

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA) hosted a forum in Hanoi on Oct. 11 to boost Vietnam-Bulgaria cooperation in trade and investment. Addressing the event, Boriana Mintcheva, Head of BSMEPA International Cooperation and Project Division highlighted the competitive edge of the Bulgarian economy thanks to its strategic location in southeastern Europe as well as its investment and tax incentive policies for foreign investors.