​The event was chaired by Ambassador Mai Phan Dung, Head of the Mission, and featured Professor Simon Evenett, Founder of the St Gallen Endowment and Professor of Geopolitics and Strategy at the International Institute for Management Development.

Professor Evenett previously taught at the University of Oxford and has served as a visiting lecturer at several leading universities in the US. He graduated from the University of Cambridge and earned his PhD from Yale University. 

He is widely recognized as a leading analyst of the global business environment, with numerous publications and academic studies, and is a prominent expert on trade, investment, and geopolitical dynamics. The St Gallen Endowment is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing prosperity through trade.

The seminar attracted active participation from representatives of relevant ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Justice, as well as officials from the Mission. From the Ministry of Industry and Trade, participants included representatives from the Multilateral Trade Policy Department, Trade Remedies Authority, Agency of Foreign Trade, Legal Department, Asia-Africa Market Department, Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency, and the Institute for Industry and Trade Policy and Strategy.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Mai Phan Dung underscored that the global and regional geopolitical landscape has become increasingly complex, posing growing challenges to trade and global supply chains. 

He noted that recent adjustments in US tariff policies, following a ruling by the Supreme Court of the US rejecting reciprocal tariffs, including the application of measures under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 (related to international payments), as well as two investigations under Section 301 concerning overcapacity and forced labor, have heightened uncertainty in global trade. For Vietnam an economy with a high degree of openness such developments could directly affect export prospects, business predictability, and the policy planning of relevant government agencies.

At the seminar, Professor Evenett provided in-depth analysis on several key issues, including Vietnam’s export performance and US imports in 2025; transshipment concerns; forecasts of future US policy trends regarding protectionist measures; analysis of recent investigations under Sections 122 and 301; and recommendations for Vietnam in responding to the two ongoing Section 301 cases.

Participants raised a range of questions to the speaker on other notable issues, including the potential impact of Malaysia’s recent decision to cancel its bilateral trade agreement with the US; the relationship between outcomes of bilateral trade negotiations and Section 301 investigations; projections of industries likely to face Section 301 actions; interpretations of overcapacity; and legal standing in initiating tariff-related cases.

In his closing remarks, Ambassador Mai Phan Dung emphasized the timeliness and practical significance of the seminar in updating ministries and agencies on recent US tariff developments, facilitating exchanges and discussions, analyzing potential impacts, and proposing policy recommendations to enable timely responses amid a volatile global trade environment.

The St Gallen Endowment, established in 2020, is a non-profit organization aimed at promoting prosperity through trade. Its key initiatives include Global Trade Alert; Digital Policy Alert (which tracks regulatory developments in digital policy, including artificial intelligence, data governance, competition, taxation, and content moderation); the C4TP program funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to enhance trade policy capacity in developing countries, with Vietnam as a priority partner; and the New Industrial Policy Observatory (NIPO), a database on industrial policies.