Vietnam – US bilateral trade officially exceeds US$100 billion

The latest report compiled by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) indicates that during the nine-month period,  the United States represented the largest export market for Vietnamese goods with an estimated turnover of US$89.4 billion, thereby accounting for 29.8% of the country's total export turnover and soaring by 27.4% over the same period from last year.

The Ministry assessed that the US market is showing signs of stimulating consumption once again, expanding the import and export needs of businesses. Due to this, the demand for wooden products, seafood, and garments and textiles is witnessing a solid upswing.

Regarding imports, the US is also one of the nation’s largest import markets with a turnover of US$10.9 billion after nine months, an increase of 6.2%. Thus, after nine months, two-way trade has officially surpassed the US$100 billion mark to hit US$100.3 billion.

According to details given by the Vietnam Trade Office in the US, there are many reasons for the continuous growth of trade between the two countries in recent times, even amid many fluctuations in the global situation.

First of all, the relationship between both sides is growing steadily. In 2013, the two nations established a Comprehensive Partnership. In 2023 they officially upgraded it to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Furthermore, Vietnamese goods are increasingly popular in the US market due to their continuously improved quality, updated trends, and competitive prices. On the other hand, changes in the supply chain, as well as the wave of investment shifts, have contributed to enhancing the production capacity of Vietnamese enterprises. This simultaneously creates opportunities and room for Vietnamese goods to increase exports to the world in general and the US market in particular.

According to Dr. Nguyen Minh Phong, an economic expert, moving forward exports to the US will continue to recover and grow amid growing market demand and falling inventories. The biggest concern regarding exports to the US is the country's increasing application of trade defence measures on imported goods.

To limit the risk of being investigated and facing defence measures, Vietnamese enterprises need to increase their understanding of the law on trade defence regulations, create added value on exported products, and store export data to co-operate with the investigation agency when an incident occurs.

According to the General Department of Customs, joint trade reached the US$100 billion mark for the first time in 2021, reaching a figure of US$111.55 billion. Of which, Vietnamese exports stood at US$96.27 billion and imports hit US$15.28 billion.

In 2022, despite facing plenty of difficulties due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, joint trade still recorded remarkable growth with a turnover of nearly US$124 billion.

Last year’s total import-export turnover between the two countries reached nearly US$111 billion.