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Singapore, UAE lead talks to form new trade grouping

Sep 1, 2025, 8:05am EDT
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Workers stand near a crane unloading sacks of imported soybeans from Russia at Heihe port in Heilongjiang province, China October 10, 2018.
A port in China. Stringer/Reuters.

Ten small and medium-sized countries are in talks to form a new trade grouping in November.

Founding members include New Zealand, Singapore, and the UAE, according to the Financial Times, with Costa Rica, Malaysia, Morocco, Norway, Panama, Rwanda, and Uruguay potentially joining the proposed grouping, which will be called the Future of Investment and Trade Partnership, or FIT-P.

The move comes as the Trump administration unravels global trade agreements. FIT-P aims to focus on giving “equal treatment to paper and digital-based trade documents, viewed as crucial to increasing efficiency in trade,” the FT reported.

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