The perennial idea of a transatlantic free-trade area sounds better but may well run into the obstacle of American domestic politics: with free-trade-sceptical Democrats taking over Congress, it is not an auspicious time for clinching trade deals.

ECONOMIST: Germany's role in Europe is changing

Even for a country like Brazil, agricultural trade barriers pose less of an obstacle to progress than barriers to trade in manufactured goods.

ECONOMIST: The Mexican marathon

"Fish-farming on a local basis exists throughout Southeast Asia, but to become a global presence a firm must overcome this obstacle, " says Gerald Bassleer, managing director of the industry's trade group, the Ornamental Fish International in the Netherlands.

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