Top Vietnamese leader’s trip to give fresh opportunities for trade links with US

According to information given by trade experts, the economic - trade co-operation mechanism between the two countries has seen important developments, including those relating to the bilateral trade agreement signed in 2000, the permanent normal trade relations that the US granted for Vietnam in 2006, and the nation’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2006.

Both nations signed the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in 2007, established the Vietnam - US Comprehensive Partnership in 2013, and signed an action plan towards a harmonious and sustainable trade balance in 2019. They also engaged in the consultation on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) in 2022.

Over the years, the US has always been one of the Vietnamese side’s largest investors with nearly 1,150 valid projects and a total registered capital of more than US$10.3 billion, ranking 11th out of the 141 economies investing in the nation.

In addition, increasing ties and engagement between the country and the US states of Oregon, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, and California have helped to establish comprehensive co-operation frameworks, further facilitating trade and investment exchanges in areas.

Businesses from the two countries have also intensified information sharing relating to potential opportunities.

According to the General Statistics Office, in the first eight months of the year, Vietnamese export turnover to the US fetched US$77.9 billion, up 25.4% compared to the same period from last year. Elsewhere, import turnover from the US to the nation hit US$9.8 billion, up 6.9%.

Most notably, the US can be viewed as the Vietnamese side’s largest export market with an estimated turnover of US$77.9 billion.

Vietnamese trade surplus with the US stands at an estimated US$68.1 billion, up 28.6% on-year. Recently, a US trade delegation of 100 participants, including 35 business representatives and officials from the departments of agriculture of nine states, visited the nation to explore co-operation opportunities between the two countries.

This marks the largest-ever agricultural trade mission from the US to Vietnam and was led by Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor in celebration of the first anniversary of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two sides.

Taylor noted that this is her second visit to Vietnam in two years. The mission aims to connect with key importers via business-to-business meetings and to gain greater insights into local and regional market conditions through site visits and discussions with industry experts and government officials in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

She said the Southeast Asian market holds great opportunities for US exporters. As such, Vietnamese consumers are increasingly interested in US products to meet the growing demand in the food processing, retail, and restaurant industries with the presence of many high-quality US products such as nuts, fresh fruits, chicken, beef, and pork.

A representative of the European-American Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that after the COVID-19 pandemic and recent geopolitical-economic instability, many corporations, retailers, and wholesale distributors are diversifying strategies to ensure sustainable supply sources. Many of them have therefore chosen Vietnam as one of the strategic locations in the global supply chain.

In particular, the Vietnam visit by US President Joe Biden back in 2023 and the upgrade of diplomatic relations will create unprecedented opportunities to promote new and breakthrough areas of collaboration in the time ahead.