WASHINGTON, April 5- The United States hopes to use a proposed regional free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific and another with the European Union to reshape global rules for trade, Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday.
*Cargill, JBS, Maple Leaf Foods, Olymel biggest Canada packers. MOSCOW, April 5- Russia plans to ban meat imports from most Canadian and Mexican suppliers from April 8 over concerns about the use of the feed additive ractopamine, Russia's veterinary and phytosanitary service said on Friday.
WASHINGTON, April 5- The U.S. trade gap narrowed unexpectedly in February as crude oil imports fell to their lowest level since March 1996 and overall exports increased slightly, a U.S. Commerce Department report on Friday showed. The consensus estimate of Wall Street analysts surveyed before the report was for the trade gap to widen slightly to $44.6 billion.
WASHINGTON-- The U.S. trade deficit likely widened in February for a second consecutive month, reflecting a rising foreign oil bill. The Commerce Department will release the report at 8:30 a.m. EDT Friday. In January, the deficit increased by a sharp 16.5 percent to $44.4 billion, as U.S. exports fell, reflecting declines in sales to Europe, China, Japan and Brazil.
WASHINGTON, April 3- The United States would welcome South Korea joining negotiations on an Asia-Pacific free trade agreement, a senior U.S. trade official said on Wednesday, as Washington continues to weigh Japan's bid to enter the same set of talks.
WASHINGTON, April 3- Free-trade talks between the United States and 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region could stretch into late next year, especially if Japan joins the negotiations, former U.S. trade officials said on Wednesday. Even if Japan stays out of the talks, "I think it would be improbable to conclude negotiations this year.
SHANGHAI, April 3- China's yuan slipped versus the dollar on Wednesday after the central bank set a slightly weaker midpoint, which traders said might signal it wants the Chinese currency to stabilize following Tuesday's record high.
SEOUL, April 3- South Korea's leading manufacturers are seeing their exports and profits undermined by the yen's decline and want more government help to deal with the problem, a survey by their lobby group showed on Wednesday. The Federation of Korean Industries said that a majority of respondents reported facing losses due to the yen's rapid decline.
*Silver's drop sends market to bear territory from Oct high. NEW YORK, April 1- Gold rose on Monday in light holiday trade, after a lackluster U.S. manufacturing report stirred economic worries ahead of the nonfarm payrolls report later this week. Silver fell nearly 1 percent.
NEW YORK, April 1- Gold was flat on Monday in light holiday trade, as the market digested U.S. manufacturing and construction reports that painted a mixed picture of the economy ahead of the all-important nonfarm payrolls report later in the week.
*Posts $330 million Feb trade deficit. JAKARTA, April 1- Indonesia had another trade deficit in February and the inflation rate last month accelerated, underlining the challenges that face a new central bank governor and whoever replaces him as finance minister of Southeast Asia's biggest economy.
SEJONG, South Korea, April 1- Hopes hardened in South Korea on Monday for a government stimulus package and an interest rate cut, after weak export and import figures and soft price data showed the economy sliding further towards stagnation.
JAKARTA, April 1- Indonesia revised its trade deficit figure for January to $70 million from $170 million previously, the statistics bureau said on Monday. The revision came as the statistics bureau put the value for January exports at $15.37 billion, down slightly from $15.39 billion previously, and imports at $15.44 billion, versus $15.55 billion previously.
SEOUL, April 1- South Korean exports last month were partly hit by the yen's sharp decline, although other factors such as labour relations and global supply issues also took their toll, a deputy trade minister said on Monday.