It was a year of transition for US trade policy in 2021. The Trump administration’s trade representative Robert Lighthizer was replaced by Katherine Tai, a senior trade lawyer with a history of taking on China. While Tai’s appointment signalled President Joe Biden’s leanings toward a multilateral approach, under her leadership, the United States has maintained many Trump-era ‘tough on China’ policies, including the phase one trade agreement and tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of imports.

The southern provinces of Binh Thuan, Long An and Tien Giang need to proactively take measures to boost the consumption of its 300,000 tonnes of dragon fruit while China is suspending the import of the fruit through border gates until January 26, 2022.

The northern province of Phu Tho has exported the first batch of Doan Hung pomelos, which were grown with sustainable agricultural practices, to the Russian market.

Vietnam remained the major tea supplier for the Taiwanese market as it exported 16,970 tonnes of tea worth US$26.7 million during the initial 11 months of last year, up 8.7% in volume and 7.8% in value year on year according to data released by Taiwan (China)’s Customs Administration.

Two-way trade between Vietnam and Laos is estimated at 1.3 billion USD in 2021, a year-on-year rise of 30.3 percent, according to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Phuong.

On the very first day of the new year, the world’s largest free trade agreement – Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) – officially came into effect.

Standing Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh has signed a decision approving a plan on the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which became effective from January 1.

2021 was a very difficult year for Vietnam's textile and garment industry, when it was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The world’s largest trade pact RCEP will boost Vietnam’s trade in the long run as the country becomes part of a bigger supply chain, experts say.

Trade remedies have helped the domestic sugar production industry to recover and farmers to stabilise production, according to experts.