Pascal Lamy

The World Trade Organization on Tuesday formally invited Vietnam to become the commerce body's 150th member, paving the way for the country to join within 30 days of its National Assembly ratifying the accord. The organization's general council approved accession terms for Vietnam with the fall of a gavel from WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, completing 11 years of entry talks with the Geneva-based group.

Chiquita Brands International Inc., blaming a trade dispute with the European Union for almost wiping out its market value, filed a $525-million lawsuit against the EU's ruling body for blocking imports of bananas. Chiquita, the world's largest banana producer, said it suffered damages of $200 million annually through lost EU market share because of the European Commission's failure to comply with World Trade Organization rulings that found the 15-nation bloc's banana-importing system illegal.

Saudi Arabia was given a green light on Friday to join the World Trade Organization, in time to participate in December's ministerial summit in Hong Kong, the global commerce body said. It took 12 years for Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, to complete talks to join the WTO -- the second-longest accession period after China, which took 14 years. "We look forward to the kingdom's participation in the Hong Kong ministerial meeting as an active member," WTO chief Pascal Lamy said.

The World Trade Organization agreed Thursday to a limited resumption of stalled free trade talks but warned that major powers had not yet shown the flexibility needed for a deal. The WTO's so-called Doha round was suspended in July because of deep differences, particularly over agriculture. But the 149-state body gave the go-ahead to resume discussions. "We need to shift into a higher gear.

Outstanding trade disputes and the question of what needs to be done to launch a new round of World Trade Organization talks later this year are expected to dominate European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy's meetings with U.S. officials in Washington this week. "I think the thrust of the meeting [with U.S.

The United States and the European Union failed to resolve their differences over government subsidies to aircraft makers Airbus and Boeing Co., setting the stage for what could be the largest World Trade Organization dispute ever. The two sides couldn't reach an agreement, European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said after meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick in Washington.

Major trading states failed Friday to make a breakthrough in deadlocked trade talks and an Indian minister said the discussions were in crisis. The talks stalled at the end of the first day of a scheduled three days of meetings with ministers from about 60 countries. "We must understand that we have not been able to move. We must recognize there are major gaps....

Global trade will shrink by 9% this year in the most devastating collapse since World War II, the World Trade Organization said Monday. The WTO said commerce in rich countries would fall furthest, by about 10%. But poorer nations may suffer the most because they are more dependent on exports for growth. Trade has grown unabated since 1982.

The European Union decided Monday to lift heavy punitive tariffs on U.S. goods but said it might renew them if the World Trade Organization confirmed suspected loopholes in Washington's new law repealing illegal corporate tax breaks. The decision to end the sanctions came after President Bush signed a bill into law Friday repealing the tax breaks that the WTO had ruled illegal.

WASHINGTON -- The World Trade Organization on Wednesday lowered its forecast for global trade growth in 2013, saying economic improvement in the U.S. would not be enough to offset Europe's struggles. The dimmer outlook for trade this year follows a historically poor 2012. Global trade expanded just 2% last year, down from 5.2% in 2011. Excluding years in which worldwide trade contracted, last year was the smallest annual increase since 1981, the WTO said. Growth will improve this year, but not as much as forecast last fall, the WTO said.