(Reuters) - Japan, Taiwan and the United States on Wednesday accused the European Union of failing to abolish taxes on some electronic hardware imports, despite being told to do so by the World Trade Organization, sources said. The three countries launched a complaint against the EU three years ago, saying the bloc had broken the global Information Technology Agreement by putting import duties on flat-panel displays, television set-top boxes and multifunction printer-copiers. U.S. trade officials estimated EU imports of the three products amounted to $7 billion in 2009.

The European Union plans to renew a tariff on bicycles from China to help EU producers including Accell Group (ACCEL) NV compete with cheaper imports, a step that would extend 18-year-old trade protection. The EU intends to re-impose the 48.5 percent duty to punish Chinese exporters of bicycles for selling them in the 27-nation bloc below cost, a practice known as dumping. In a concession to Chinese manufacturers and European importers, the extension would be for three years rather than the usual five years.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The World Trade Organization has ruled in favor of Mexico in a dispute over tuna with the United States that began more than 20 years ago, a high-ranking source close to the negotiations told Reuters. The WTO's decision lifts restrictions for Mexico to ship the fish to the United States, barred because it does not carry a "dolphin safe" label. The United States stopped selling Mexican tuna in 1991, citing complaints that the fishing techniques used by its neighbor were hurting the local dolphin population.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body has adopted a ruling that upholds Philippine claims that Thailand has failed to respect its tobacco-related WTO commitments, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday. This development is the final step in the dispute settlement proceedings, the DFA noted.

GENEVA (Reuters) - U.S. leadership could be the vital spark needed to revive moribund world trade talks, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Monday, decrying as defeatist the mindset of those prepared to see the deal fail. Expanding on a speech in which he said World Trade Organization members should "double down on Doha," Zoellick, who was U.S. Trade Representative for four years, said the Obama Administration should take the initiative and champion a deal.

After a barrage of print media giving high hopes for the EU to sign FTA with India thus reducing duties on imported wines and spirits from EU, it has resigned to the reality that the Free Trade Agreement between the two in the final stage is now being delayed because of the issue of lowering of duties on wines & spirits and cars, with India refusing to lower the tariffs due to a strong domestic lobby.

The US garment industry is supporting a "yarn forward" rule of origin proposed by the US Trade Representative (USTR) during the latest round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement negotiations. Nine Pacific Rim nations are formally involved in the multi-lateral trade talks, including the US, Vietnam Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia and Peru.

Mexico City –- Mexico’s agriculture and fishing industries called on the Senate Monday to hold off on ratifying the free trade agreement with Peru until a better deal can be negotiated. Five organizations took out ads in different newspapers timed to coincide with Peruvian President-elect Ollanta Humala’s visit to Mexico. The groups said they did not oppose the free trade agreement but asked senators to "take into account the high effects on sensitive products" that the accord would have.

India remained the second largest recipient of WTO Aid-for-Trade in 2009, receiving assistance of over USD 1.5 billion, even as global commitments to create physical and institutional infrastructure to multiply trade opportunities shot up to USD 40 billion, says a study. The report was jointly prepared by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Trade Organization (WTO). It was released today.

SHANGHAI, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The China Fastener Industry Association strongly demanded the lifting of discriminatory anti-dumping duties from the EU on fasteners from China in an open letter sent to the Council of European Union on Monday. Feng Jinyao, president of the association, said the country's fastener industry has suffered great losses in the recent two years due to the EU's unfair treatment on Chinese fastener makers. The association is a representative body of nearly 500 Chinese fastener manufacturers.