South Korea and Cambodia agreed Thursday to launch official negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), paving the way for Asia's No. 4 economy to penetrate deeper into the Southeast Asian market and boost its virus-hit exports.

Chairman of the Indonesia Food and Beverage Industry Association (GAPMMI) Adhi Lukman has expressed his belief that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement will be signed this year, regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A series of high profile officials in Beijing have recently voiced openness about China joining a trans-Pacific trade pact abandoned by the United States in one of the first acts of Donald Trump’s presidency.

The EU has threatened to “act decisively” if the United States puts new tariffs of its goods amid heightened tension over subsidies to the home aviation market.

Thailand will take until September to study whether to join a trans-Pacific free trade agreement, potentially missing a window for entry this year amid widespread concern that joining the pact may harm its farm and healthcare sectors.

Rice quotas for Vietnam under the EVFTA are expected to push Vietnam's rice exports up from the second half of this year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

South Korea said Wednesday it will push for the conclusion of a mega Asia-Pacific trade deal this year to help boost ailing exports and cope with the growing protectionism around the globe in the face of the new coronavirus pandemic.

Vietnam recorded a trade deficit of 101.4 million USD with Israel in the first five months of this year due to declines in the export of key commodities and the resumed import of items of high value.

Over the past years, with the advantage of a potential distribution market thanks to a large population size of 96 million people, and young population structure with 60 percent of the population at the age from 18 to 50, along with other favorable factors, the wave of domestic and foreign direct investment capital has continued to pour into the retail industry of Vietnam.

The agreement between the US Mexico and Canada (USMCA) entered into Force last 1st of July 2020 replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Although in many aspects the new treaty resembles the old one a lot, unlike the previous Trade Agreement, the USMCA focuses mainly on car exports, aluminum, and steel tariffs.