The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, expected to be signed soon, will serve as a push for the Vietnamese garment sector’s growth and sustainable development, said a senior official in the industry.  In a recent interview granted to Vietnam News Agency on this issue, Le Tien Truong, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), said experts at many seminars affirmed that the garment sector, with its international competitiveness, will benefit much from free trade agreements (FTAs) in general and the TPP in particular. 

(VOV) -  Free trade agreements such as that with the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), will expand export markets for Vietnamese garments and textiles, according to Industry and Trade Minister Vu Huy Hoang. The 12 potential TPP members account for 40% of global GDP and 30% of global trade. TPP commitments are more onerous than their WTO equivalents.

Opportunities and challenges from AFTA commitments ASEAN member auto imports will be awarded a preferential 50% import tariff from early 2014.The tax cut is the result of the earlier ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA). Import tax reductions are a boon for consumers but pose challenges to Vietnamese car assemblers and manufacturers.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to institute an investigation of certain soft-edged trampolines and components thereof. The products at issue in this investigation are trampolines designed so no hard surfaces or components are situated adjacent to the surface of the trampoline mat.

Canada and Norway today (24/01) launched an appeal against the WTO panel report on the EU’s ban on importation and marketing of seals products. The WTO panel had previously rejected Canada’s and Norway’s claims against the ban. The WTO ruling confirmed that the ban is justified on moral grounds relating to animal welfare concerns with regard to the way in which the seals are killed. The Commission will continue to vigorously defend the ban upon appeal as it was imposed in reaction to genuine concerns of EU citizens.

Export turnover of agro-aquatic-forestry products nationwide for the very first month of this year reached a modest 2.32 billion USD, reducing by 9.7 percent from one year ago, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.  While exports of farm produce decreased by 17.9 percent year on year to 1.17 billion USD, forestry produce registered a 3.3 percent rise to 534 million USD and aquatic products fetched 552 million USD, up 13.9 percent. 

The White House sent a strong signal Monday of its desire to create a huge Pacific free trade area, despite the slippage of its year-end deadline for the 12-nation project. President Barack Obama gathered senior trade advisors in the Oval Office and invited news photographers to document the meeting, in the wake of the latest ministerial talks last week on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Singapore. “This remains a top priority of the president because of the positive economic benefits that come from it,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

With the New Year the corporate lobbyists and the Obama administration are stepping up their drive for passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the new trade deal being negotiated in secret by the United States and eleven countries in the Pacific region. The key at the moment is Congressional approval of fast-track authority. This would give any agreement a straight up or down vote on an accelerated timetable.

During a meeting on January 21 in Seoul between South Korea's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance, Hyun Oh-seok, and the Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, it was agreed to accelerate the on-going negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.

HANOI, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam earned some 2.5 billion U.S. dollars from exporting over 1 million tons of rubber in 2013, down 11.7 percent year-on-year in value and up 6.7 percent in volume, said Vietnam's General Statistics Office on Wednesday. In December alone, the country sold 140,000 tons of rubber to overseas market, pocketing 307 million U.S. dollars, said the office. China maintained the largest importer of Vietnamese natural rubber in 2013 as importing 400,000 tons worth 280 million U.S. dollars, accounting for about 50 percent of Vietnamese rubber exports.