Việt Nam’s slew of free trade agreements offers its export companies a competitive advantage to but their utilisation rates remain modest, a seminar heard in HCM City on September 25.

Vietnam’s aquatic exports are on pace to reach 10 billion USD in 2025, but rising trade and technical barriers, particularly in the US, are prompting exporters to pivot toward diversification and value-added processing to maintain momentum.

Việt Nam’s fruit and vegetable exports are estimated to reach more than US$6.11 billion in the first nine months of 2025, marking a year-on-year increase of 8.3 per cent, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

Vietnam will continue trade negotiations with the United States while seeking to sign free trade deals with other markets, the prime minister said in a statement on Wednesday (Sept 24), adding that the country is targeting export growth of 12% this year.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday that trade negotiations with the U.S. were ongoing, and a lot of the remaining issues would move to a forthcoming review of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA).

President Xi Jinping’s export engine has proved unstoppable during five months of sky-high US tariffs, sending China toward a record $1.2 trillion trade surplus.

Although Turkey is a potential market, it is emerging as one of the countries using trade defense tools with high frequency.

Steel, furniture, and electronics from Vietnam are increasingly targeted in global trade defense measures due to rapid export growth.

To make a breakthrough, trade promotion is expected to be a strong lever.

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) has implemented safeguard measures on Vietnamese textiles and garments, with these measures taking effect for a period of six months.