EU presses Vietnam on trade barriers

The EU plans to press Vietnam to lift trade barriers as its USD50 billion deficit with Hanoi rises.

Transcript

00:00The European Union plans to press Vietnam to lift administrative barriers on the EU goods

00:05as the bloc's trade deficit with Hanoi continues to grow.

00:09Since a 2019 free trade agreement,

00:12Vietnam has become the EU's largest trading partner in Southeast Asia,

00:16with bilateral trade reaching $79 billion last year.

00:20But trade flows remain largely unbalanced.

00:23The EU's deficit with Vietnam rose nearly 20% last year to about $50 billion

00:30and has already hit $30 billion in the first half of 2025.

00:35EU officials say apples and kiwis from Italy, potatoes from Germany,

00:40poultry from Spain and pork from several countries have been barred by administrative delays

00:45despite being cleared as safe.

00:47The Commission wants Vietnam to remove these barriers,

00:50while Hanoi is expected to push back on EU carbon tariffs and regulations.

00:55EU Trade Commissioner Maros Shevkovic will meet Vietnamese officials on Friday

01:00during a Southeast Asia trip that also includes Indonesia and Malaysia.

01:04Discussions will focus on removing non-tariff barriers for EU products,

01:08including food, pharmaceuticals and automobiles.