International trade is based on the concept of trust. In situations where there isn’t some established trust, the trading parties get their respective banks involved and use various trade finance products like Letters of Credit to ensure that both sides adhere to the terms of the trade as laid out in the contract. This trust fuels global trade and countries where it can be strengthened generally tend to become the preferred trading partners over time. The focus on trust in international trade brings us to the topic of this two-part series. This article focuses on how eIDAS can help establish trust between trading partners world across the EU and worldwide.