SEOUL, May 13 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and Indonesia have agreed to launch joint study on the feasibility of a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries, the foreign ministry said Friday. The two sides plan to conduct four rounds of bilateral meetings starting in June this year with a goal of kicking off official negotiations on bilateral free trade pact in November, when the leaders of the two countries are scheduled to meet, according to the ministry.

OSLO (Reuters) - Countries locked in long-running trade talks do not want the so-called Doha round to fail but may not have the political will to agree on how to cut industrial tariffs, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said on Thursday. "What members have told me so far is that nobody wants the death of Doha," WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy told a business audience in the Norwegian capital.

Indonesian Minister of Finance AgusMartowardojo has urged members of the ASEAN trade bloc to implement reforms to establish greater financial sector integration between nations, including through easing tax and non-tax barriers and setting up frameworks to mitigate criminality. Speaking to the Indonesia Banking Expo, 2011, on May 11, a few days after the 18th ASEAN Summit in Jakarta, Martowardojo emphasized the need for the ASEAN countries to liberalize restrictions to encourage bilateral investment.

The Chinese government has announced that it has extended for five years anti-dumping duties in place since 2005 on chloroprene rubber imports from Japan, the United States and the European Union. The announcement will be welcomed by local industry which lobbied for its extension. Following the Chinese Ministry of Finance's decision, the duty will remain in place until it is again subject to review on May 9, 2015. Upon investigating its removal the Ministry surmised that should it cease the duties 'dumping' would reoccur, damaging the domestic industry.

A new study tallies the number of American jobs lost or displaced to Mexico as a result of the U.S. trade deficit with its neighbor to the south.

VNEconomyNews.com - In order to negotiate for free trade agreements (FTAs) with partners, Vietnam needs to the labor standards. Until now, Vietnam has signed FTAs with 15 countries within the framework of the six FTAs within ASEAN: China, Republic of Korea, Japan, Australia-New Zealand and India. However, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), Vietnam has not signed any bilateral or multilateral agreements with the associated provisions on the labor standards.

(Reuters) - U.S. import prices rose at a slower pace in April as petroleum and food cost increases moderated, while a jump in wholesale inventories during March suggested a weak first quarter ended on a firmer note. Import costs rose 2.2 percent in April, slowing from 2.6 percent increase a month earlier, according to Labor Department figures on Tuesday. Still, it was the seventh straight month of gains, and the rise surpassed forecasts for a 1.8 percent increase.

JAKARTA, May 10 (Xinhua) - The Indonesian government has ratified ASEAN-Australia and New Zealand Free Trade, Coordinating Minister for Economy HattaRajasa said here on Tuesday. The minister said that the free trade implementation would start this year, but the some post tariffs implementation would be gradual by up to 2015. "This agreement would bring benefit for Indonesia, so the government decided to ratify it. The ratification was in line with schedule, before the ASEAN Summit," he was quoted by Bisnis online as saying.

New Zealand will offer greater market access to Indian professionals in the proposed free trade pact the two countries are currently negotiating, Trade Minister Tim Grosersaid here today. "Of course we will make offers to India in services (under the proposed FTA))," Groser told reporters. He said Indian professionals would get more visas for New Zealand. "You cannot establish a business relationship without facilitation of movement of persons," he added.

GENEVA: The EU's proposal for zero duty on the import of 64 textile items from Pakistan and other concessions with a view to help last year's flood victims could cause irreparable "systemic" damage to global World Trade Organization rules, trade diplomats have said. Brussels' largesse to Pakistan would not come into force without an approval from the WTO's Council for Trade in Goods (CTG), which is expected to meet on May 26th.