The Ministry of Industry and Trade has approved a list of 268 trustworthy Vietnamese export companies across 25 sectors in 2019.

70% of raw materials for domestic leather and footwear production are imported from China, according to Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, general secretary of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (Lefaso).

Vietnam is aiming to build a transparent and legal wood industry to support exports of timber products and bolster the domestic timber manufacturing industry.

Next year the world’s largest free trade zone in terms of participating countries since the establishment of the WTO will come into being. But many details of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement still need to be ironed out – and Covid-19 delays have not helped. The ATAF/AUC High-level Tax Policy Dialogue on Wednesday will hopefully get the process back on track.

China has launched an anti-dumping investigation into imported wines from Australia, adding to an already tense trading relationship between the two nations as disputes roll on over a dairy deal, tariffs on barley and territory claims.

Doubts are growing in Whitehall that a UK-Japan trade deal will be completed by next week’s deadline, despite Downing Street saying just yesterday the target would be met.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) will verify information provided by concerned parties before issuing a conclusion about an investigation into anti-dumping measures on steel H-beams imported from Malaysia.

The Vietnam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) forecasts the country’s textile and garment exports will continue to decline by 14-18% each month for the rest of 2020 over the same period last year.

Companies seeking to reduce dependence on China by diversifying supply chains amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic would have mixed implications on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economies, Moody’s Investors Service said.

In the foreseeable future, Thailand will be shying away from the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The country lacks necessary preparedness and consensus for the high-end free-trade arrangement.