EU-Vietnam free trade deal to remove over 99% of tariffs on goods

Brussels

THE European Union (EU) and Vietnam on Tuesday announced a free trade deal that would remove nearly all tariffs that Brussels called a "milestone" on the way to a region-wide agreement with South-east Asia.

The EU said the agreement in principle followed two-and-a-half years of "intense" negotiations between the 28-nation EU and Vietnam, whose two-way trade has grown three-fold to 28 billion euros (S$42.3 billion) in the last 10 years.

"We have a deal. This finely balanced agreement will boost trade with one of Asia's most dynamic economies," EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem announced in Brussels following a ph…