Pascal Lamy

It took nearly 20 years of negotiations, but Russia was finally welcomed into the World Trade Organization on Wednesday. The largest economy outside the WTO until now, Russia will become the international trade group's 156th member . The U.S. joined in 1995, China in late 2001. The last member to be accepted was Montenegro in April. Vanuatu, a small island nation in the Pacific, followed Russia as the 157th WTO member. “Both accessions show that joining the WTO remains high on the countries' agendas since trade can bring a predictable and stable basis for economic growth,” WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said in a statement.

WASHINGTON - After nearly 20 years of negotiations, Russia has finally joined the ranks of the World Trade Organization, marking what analysts see as one of the last post-Cold War moves to bring Russia into the international economic community. Russia's formal entry into the WTO on Wednesday also made it the biggest economy to become a member of the Geneva-based trade body since China joined in late 2001. China's entry paved the way for a rapid acceleration of exports of manufactured goods to the U.S., contributing to a sharp increase in America's trade deficit.

Robert B. Zoellick, President-elect George W. Bush's choice as his top trade negotiator, should have no problems getting confirmed by the Senate. His resume includes a long list of accomplishments in international negotiations in which he distinguished himself as a skilled strategist and an innovative problem solver.

Senior officials voiced frustration Thursday with the lack of progress in the Doha round of global trade negotiations, as World Trade Organization members appeared likely to miss a crucial deadline for a framework deal. The latest setback leaves little time for incoming WTO boss Pascal Lamy -- who is holding informal talks with ministers here -- to broker the comprehensive draft deal scheduled to be approved at a Hong Kong summit in December. Thursday's U.S.

China will make piracy of intellectual property an offense punishable by as many as seven years in prison, responding to pressure from the U.S. and other countries to crack down harder on the theft of software, movies and other products. The Supreme People's Court set the maximum penalty in a reinterpretation of China's criminal law, according to a statement issued Tuesday at a news conference in Beijing, fulfilling a government pledge to strengthen anti-piracy rules by the end of the year.

The European Union's head office formally adopted tariffs of up to 26% on steel Wednesday to prevent a feared flood of cheap imports from countries hit by U.S. protective measures. Labeling the U.S. tariffs, which took effect last week, "unfounded, unnecessary and unfair," EU officials said they were forced to respond in kind to safeguard Europe's own shaky steel industry. Warning against "over-dramatization," however, they also appealed for a truce to avert a transatlantic war.

European Union governments on Tuesday hailed their agreement on a pioneering plan to allow duty-free access to its markets for virtually all products from the world's poorest countries. "This is a global first," said a triumphant EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy after foreign ministers adopted his hard-won proposal after five months of debate.

General Electric Co., Motorola Inc. and Ford Motor Co. are among the companies whose products are targeted for planned tariffs by the European Union, according to a U.S. trade organization. The EU's target list of $335 million in annual tariffs may impose import duties as high as 100% on U.S. imports such as clothing, footwear, steel products and citrus fruit in retaliation for U.S. tariff and quota protection for its domestic steel industry. Products from Caterpillar Inc., Nike Inc.

Cross-border trading will slow down this year as global economies deal with a rash of aftershocks from the European debt crisis, natural disasters in Japan and Thailand, fluctuating exchange rates, the Arab Spring protests and more, the WTO said Thursday. The volume of international exports will grow 3.7%, after slowing more than expected to a 5% expansion rate in 2011, according to the World Trade Organization . In 2010, activity boomed 13.8%. All that merchandise will be worth $18.2 trillion - a record high and a 19% increase over last year due in large part to spiking commodity prices.

By cementing a deal with Europe, China has cleared away the largest remaining hurdle in its bid to join the World Trade Organization and put the Asian nation within reach of membership in the powerful trade group by the end of the year, officials said Thursday. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue announced in Beijing late Wednesday that China and the European Union had resolved their disputes over foreign access to China's lucrative insurance and retail markets.