The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has officially removed Vietnam and more than 20 other countries from its list of countries designated as developing or least-developed under the US Countervailing Duty Law. According to the update, Vietnam will lose certain trade privileges and interests, partly affecting Vietnam’s economic development process as well as the stability of trade activities. Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh granted an interview to Nhan Dan Newspaper regarding Vietnam's preparations to stand ready to cope with the above move and unpredictable changes in the global economic and trade cooperation.

Australia is willing to consider a bilateral free trade agreement with India on the lines of the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, that New Delhi chose to exit in November last year, that would capture the work already done between the two countries while the negotiations were on, the country’s Trade and Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham has said.

"With CUSMA now ratified in both Mexico and the United States, Canada needs to follow suit and fast. Delaying ratification at this stage may only have negative impact on relations with our trading partners, who let’s not forget, reserve the rights to move ahead on a bilateral deal if Canada takes too long to ratify."

India and US can do a larger trade deal much faster, says Piyush Goyal

A survey on business conditions of Japanese companies in Asia and Oceania released by the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in Hanoi showed optimistic signals that 63.9 % of Japanese enterprises in Vietnam are planning to expand their business in the coming years. In case of business relocation, Vietnam is the first choice of Japanese enterprises (accounting for 42.3% of enterprises).

Vietnam and the US still hold huge potential for cooperation in farm produce trade, and the two countries should not compete in trade but supplement each other, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh has said.

Vietnam’s wood exports to the European Union (EU) is likely to reach 1 billion USD after the recently ratified EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) takes effect, according to market watchers.

When the US on 4 March last year announced that it is withdrawing duty-free entry for Indian exports worth around $6 billion, it brought the curtains down to a year- long dialogue between the two strategic partners for hammering out a limited trade package.

The U.S. declassification of Vietnam as a developing nation was anticipated and will affect neither existing countervailing duties levied nor its WTO benefits, experts say.

The U.S. goods will be exempt for one year starting Feb. 28