Argentina has decided to withdraw from ongoing trade negotiations with South American trade bloc Mercosur as it turns its focus on the growing economic crisis at home, the bloc said in a statement late on Friday. The decision marks yet another setback for the four-nation common market, which has recently been hobbled by political squabbling and government changeovers. The bloc also includes Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Friday said he has notified Congress that the new US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement will take effect on 1 July, a month later than initially proposed.

World food prices fell sharply in March, hit by a drop in demand tied to the coronavirus pandemic and a plunge in global oil prices, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the eurozone’s economy, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire issued a rallying cry to the nation’s supermarkets on 24 March: ‘Stock French products!’

Amazon.com will stop shipping non-essential products to consumers in Italy and France, the company said on Saturday, representing an escalation in the e-commerce giant's response in regions hard hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said on Friday he was hopeful of reaching a mini trade accord with the United States in coming weeks, but that there were still difficult issues to overcome including barriers on agriculture, news wires reported.

The President of the United States Donald Trump failed on Tuesday to strike a trade deal with India at the end of his two-day visit, which was big on photo opportunities but short on substance and overshadowed by deadly riots. Speaking at the end of a short tour that saw him hold hands at the Taj Mahal with First Lady Melania and address a huge rally, Trump said only that they had made "tremendous progress" towards an accord - a statement later repeated by White House's press service.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is preparing to impose full customs and border checks on all European Union goods entering Britain from next year, in an attempt to increase pressure on the bloc in trade talks, The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.

The EU along with Ministers from 16 Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have agreed to develop a multi-party interim appeal arrangement that will allow the participating WTO members to preserve a functioning and two-step dispute settlement system at the organisation in disputes among them.

Oil prices soared more than 4% Friday following news that the US had killed a top Iranian general, fanning fresh fears of a conflict in the crude-rich region, with Tehran warning of retaliation.