GENEVA, Nov 3 (Reuters) – The global economy faces an
increased threat of protectionism because of tensions over
exchange rates, the heads of three international organisations
will warn leaders of the G20 in a forthcoming report.

The warning is contained in a report on trade and investment
from the World Trade Organization (WTO), Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), commissioned by
the G20 for its summit in Seoul next week.

GENEVA, Nov 2 (Reuters) – Major trade powers sparred on
Tuesday over what needed to be done to finish the long-running
Doha round amid a flurry of recent activity to revive the
stalled talks.

Ambassadors to the World Trade Organization from Brazil,
China, the European Union, India and the United States agreed
that much valuable work had already been done on Doha.

GENEVA, Nov 2 (Reuters) – Preventing countries from
backsliding on cuts in tariffs they have undertaken unilaterally
could be the biggest gain from the long-running Doha round to
free up world trade, economists said on Tuesday.

And the modest gains to the world economy from agreeing what
is currently on the table could be improved if negotiators made
progress opening up services that account for 80 percent of rich
economies and a rapidly rising share in developing countries.

GENEVA (Reuters) – Businesses in Japan, the United States and European Union are crying foul over cuts in China’s export quotas of rare earths and calling on their governments to sue Beijing at the World Trade Organization.

China, which currently has a near-monopoly in supplies of rare earths, has drastically reduced shipments to Japan of the minerals, essential for many high-tech products.

GENEVA, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Many developing countries remain
cut off from trade finance, which before the credit crunch was
often their only source of private-sector funding, despite a
recovery in the industry, a meeting of experts heard on Friday.

Difficulties still encountered by some poor countries in
Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Central Asia to
obtain funding for their exports threatens to undermine their
entire economic development, one expert said.

GENEVA (Reuters) – A World Trade Organization panel largely rejected Chinese claims on Friday in a dispute with the United States over extra duties on Chinese goods which Washington argued were priced at below cost and subsidized.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk welcomed the ruling as a win for American businesses and workers affected by unfairly traded imports.

GENEVA (Reuters) – China’s new five-year-plan will not bring any rapid change in export quotas for rare earth metals required worldwide for high-tech products, a senior Chinese trade official said on Thursday.

Sun Zhenyu, ambassador to the World Trade Organization, told Reuters Insider that China’s own stocks of the rare metals, for which it is the dominant supplier, were depleting fast and that Beijing had to conserve them.

GENEVA, Oct 20 (Reuters) – India’s trade chief added his
voice on Wednesday to comments that the long-stalled Doha talks
to free up world trade are again showing signs of life.

But Trade Minister Anand Sharma said India would not reopen
what had been agreed, and any deal must help developing
countries by making farm trade fairer — apparently rejecting
U.S. calls for a shake-up of what is on the table so far.

GENEVA (Reuters) – The head of the World Trade Organisation stepped into an escalating row over currency policies on Tuesday, saying growing disputes about exchange rates could threaten global trade and economic recovery.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said governments had largely resisted resorting to conventional trade measures such as higher tariffs to protect jobs in the wake of the crisis.