trade

This comes amid an increasing number of Chinese firms relocating at least part of their production south of the border in order to circumvent antidumping and countervailing duties in other parts of the world. That’s not to say, Vietnam is not-subsidising its own industries, with the US DOC finding earlier this year that government intervention in the market is beyond what is acceptable for it to be considered a market economy.

Of note, trade between Vietnam and Costa Rica is relatively small. So far this year, the Central American nation has not featured in Vietnam’s customs data. That said, state media has been pushing the number of countries that consider Vietnam a market economy as a key reason why it should be upgraded by the US. With this in mind, it’s likely there will be many more announcements like this from smaller countries…

“If the US Department of Commerce had reviewed the records and practices in Vietnam objectively and fairly, it would have been able to acknowledge the fact that Vietnam is a market economy,” Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade has said in a statement.

Notably, Vietnam and the UK already have the UK Vietnam Free Trade Agreement which is almost identical to the European Vietnam Free Trade Agreement. In this light, the CPTPP will not make a huge difference to bilateral trade between the two countries. That said, there will be a few additional advantages including…

Article 45 allows firms approved to receive priority customs treatment to submit incomplete documents when exporting or importing goods. These firms, however, must submit completed documentation within the following 30 days…

The allegations now include 1.68 tons of coffee missing from a shipment to Egypt in January; four shipments of pepper to the Philippines, Korea, Thailand, and Japan from March that were each missing between 1.5 and 4.6 tons; and three pepper shipments to Malaysia and Norway between September last year and March this year that were each missing between 200 kilograms and 3.3 tons of product…

The United States is the biggest buyer of Vietnam’s exports and together the two countries engage in over US$100 billion worth of trade each year. This tracker looks at what is imported from the US and exported to the US from Vietnam using the most recent data available.

Vietnam has remained cordially with Russia throughout the Ukraine War. The Southeast Asian nation is heavily dependent on Russia for its arms supplies but also has a strong bond with the country on account of their similar political pasts. This has seen Russian tourist arrivals grow by 80 percent in the first five months of this year over the first five months of 2023 and…

For context, Vietnam’s seafood exports have benefited enormously from the myriad of trade deals the country has signed on to, however, sustainability has become a key issue. Overfishing is rife, hence the yellow card, and this has the potential to have long-term ramifications for many of Vietnam’s coastal, fishing dependent communities. That said, this yellow card coupled with the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement has, at least ostensibly, been a driver for change and speaks to the non-trade benefits of Vietnam’s many free trade agreements…

Of note, in S&P Global’s monthly Purchasing Managers Index updates over the last year or so, the fact that Vietnamese manufacturers were burning through inventory rather than importing more, has been reported every other month. This was in the context of lower demand for Vietnam’s exports, a reality that seems to be changing–exports were 15.8 percent higher than in May of last year–and in which case businesses need to scale back up and import more inputs.

Vietnam customs data released last week shows a slight downturn in exports in April, losing 7.7 percent over March. That said, exports were still up over the first four months of the year by 15.1 percent compared to 2023. Imports were also down 2.9 percent in April over March but