AsemconnectVietnam - Due to many changes in the world's economic and political situation, the trade defense is forecast to continue to increase in 2025, the complexity and scale of cases will also increase.

As an important destination in the global supply chain, Vietnam's export goods will hardly avoid the trade defense storm.
Therefore, taking advantage of free trade agreements (FTAs) and diversifying markets, avoiding overheating export growth in a market under trade defense investigation is something Vietnamese enterprises need to pay attention to. In addition to early warning information, enterprises need to proactively respond to trade defense lawsuits to reduce risks and increase advantages for exported goods.
As a country exporting goods with high growth in the world, Vietnamese goods are facing challenges of being applied trade defense measures by importing countries. Meanwhile, Vietnam aims to increase its export growth by more than 12% in 2025 compared to 2024, so diversifying trade defense solutions when entering FTA markets is essential.
A report by the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (VINASME) shows that Vietnam has participated in many FTAs with countries and regions around the world. These agreements help businesses access international markets with reduced or exempted tariffs. This creates favorable conditions for exporting products, especially those with competitive strengths of Vietnam such as agricultural products, seafood and light industrial products. In addition, FTAs also bring opportunities to access large consumer markets; at the same time, promote businesses to participate in regional and global supply chains.
However, according to Mr. To Hoai Nam - Permanent Vice President and General Secretary of VINASME, the challenges that businesses are facing in the integration journey are also very large. That is, many small and medium-sized enterprises do not have enough capital capacity and the ability to compete with larger enterprises and foreign competitors when participating in international markets. Most enterprises do not have a specialized legal department, leading to a lack of understanding of legal regulations, commercial contracts and intellectual property rights, making them vulnerable to risks in international transactions.
Although tariffs have decreased, non-tariff measures such as technical standards, food safety regulations and other requirements are still major obstacles for enterprises when exporting goods. Enterprises also face risks such as fluctuations in exchange rates, raw material prices, or changes in international trade policies. This is one of the factors that directly affects the business activities of enterprises.
According to the data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, as of March 25, 2025, Vietnam's export goods have faced 282 cases of foreign investigation into Vietnam's export goods, of which the most are anti-dumping (153 cases), followed by self-defense (59 cases), anti-tax evasion (39 cases) and anti-subsidy (31 cases).
Notably, the cases are all related to strong export products such as shrimp, pangasius, steel, wood, and products with medium and small export values such as lawn mowers, honey, and paper plates.
The increase in investigations and application of trade defense measures by countries is an inevitable trend. However, the increasing protectionist trend is putting great pressure on businesses and industries, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.
The experts and managers predict that the complexity and scale of trade defense cases will increase. Therefore, to minimize negative impacts on business operations, enterprises need to improve their ability to respond to investigations when Vietnam's export goods continue to have many opportunities to access international markets.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Trang - Director of the WTO and Integration Center (VCCI) recommends that with the participation and signing of many FTAs, enterprises need to increase the exploitation of this advantage to diversify export markets. Accordingly, in addition to ensuring growth focus on large markets, it is necessary to develop plans to approach other markets. This will help balance exports in terms of the ability to respond to compensate for higher revenue and output.
Along with that, enterprises must regularly and closely monitor the trade policies of countries and export markets such as tax policies, policies on the origin of goods, food safety for consumers, and policies related to trade defense. In particular, businesses and industry associations need to consider trade defense risks to build reasonable production and export; prepare resources to deal with trade defense lawsuit risks.
According to Mr. Ta Hoang Linh - Director of the Foreign Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), unilateralism in trade is dominating again, and trade protection policies applied by countries are becoming more diverse and complex. Many major trade partners of Vietnam, especially the United States and the European Union (EU), have continuously established new standards and regulations related to imported products, and many markets have increased investigations and applied trade defense measures. In particular, Europe, America, the United States and the EU are considered two key markets. These are all demanding markets with high standards and increasingly using technical barriers and investigations against Vietnamese export goods. Moreover, the second-term Trump Administration is expected to issue a series of new policies, which are likely to have a profound impact on bilateral economic and trade relations. As for the EU, the protectionist trend is increasing in a number of areas, reflecting efforts to pursue strategic autonomy in the context of fierce global competition. These measures risk increasing import costs, causing reactions from major trading partners, and complicating the global supply chain.
To limit risks to Vietnamese goods, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has deployed the Trade Defense Early Warning System in accordance with Decision No. 316/QD-TTg. This system allows management agencies to observe and monitor all trade exchange activities between countries around the world, which trade defense investigations have arisen, and in which product lines.
In addition to collecting and analyzing this information data, the early warning system also relies on other sources of information, such as information sent from the system of more than 60 Vietnamese trade offices abroad and partners and organizations working in the field of trade defense, etc. related to risks, the possibility of trade defense investigations, conflicts between Vietnamese export goods and goods in the local market. Mr. Chu Thang Trung - Deputy Director of the Department of Trade Defense (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that the system has updated and monitored over 170 items; of which, it has issued an early warning list for 18 items at risk of being investigated and applying trade defense measures. This helps ministries, branches, localities and enterprises to proactively respond to foreign trade defense measures and proactively develop production and export strategies, and prepare resources; develop a response plan to help minimize the negative impacts of foreign trade defense measures
Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang said that in the coming time, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will continue to enhance the effectiveness of early warning of foreign trade defense cases against Vietnam's export goods; at the same time, strengthen propaganda and training to raise awareness of relevant parties in the field of trade defense.
Vietnamese enterprises need to proactively learn and improve awareness and skills to promptly respond when faced with trade defense cases; strengthen coordination with state management agencies and monitor warning information from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, prepare resources to appeal. At the same time, Vietnamese Trade Offices abroad need to strengthen monitoring, analysis and assessment of trade policies of host countries, promptly advise on appropriate policy response measures, ensuring Vietnam's interests in international economic integration.
At the same time, the enterprises also need to continue to conduct in-depth research on market needs, tastes and requirements, thereby advising the Ministry of Industry and Trade on export market development strategies, and making recommendations for domestic production and business orientations. In particular, Trade Offices need to proactively coordinate with local agencies related to arising issues, such as lawsuits or fraud cases, to protect the legitimate rights of Vietnamese enterprises.
CK
Source: VITIC/thitruongvietnam.vn