Vietnam is the EU’s fifth-most important trade partner of the 10 ASEAN members, according to the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm. In 2014, the EU imported 22.1 billion euros of goods from Vietnam and had exports to the country valued at 6.2 billion euros, says the commission.
The main European imports from Vietnam, whose population of more than 90 million makes the country bigger than any EU nation, include electronics, shoes, textiles, coffee, rice, seafood and furniture, while the bloc’s main exports to the country are high-tech goods such as electrical machinery, aircraft, vehicles and pharmaceuticals, according to the commission.
European duties will remain on some “sensitive” goods such as rice, canned tuna and sugar, which will be subject to tariffs beyond certain quotas.