Goods from the US to Vietnam increased sharply

Businesses speed up importing raw materials from the US

Ms. Dam Thu Van, a fruit importer in Ho Chi Minh City, said that popular imported fruits from the US such as apples, grapes, cherries, red-fleshed oranges, etc. have increased steadily since the beginning of the year. Especially during the apple and orange season in the US, the company's import costs for these items increased by 50% even though the import of vegetables and fruits in general decreased by 18%. "American vegetables, fruits, and agricultural products in general are always attractive to Vietnamese consumers thanks to their quality and price. From now until the end of the year, the US will enter the seedless grape season, so my company's imports will definitely increase sharply," Ms. Van said.

Fruits and vegetables imported from the US to Vietnam increased sharply.

PHOTO: NGOC DUONG

However, the group of imported raw materials from the US is the breakthrough industry. The US has continuously maintained its position as the largest cotton supplier, accounting for 49% of Vietnam's total cotton imports. According to the Customs Department, in September alone, the country imported more than 102,000 tons of cotton, worth 166 million USD. In total, in the first 9 months, Vietnam imported more than 1.3 million tons of cotton of all kinds, worth 2.2 billion USD, up 19% in volume and 3% in value compared to the same period in 2024. Similarly, soybean imports from the US recorded strong growth. This country is currently the second largest market (after Brazil) supplying soybeans to Vietnam. We spent nearly 301.5 million USD to buy 667,211 tons of soybeans from the US, accounting for 33.3% of the country's total soybean import turnover, up 29.6% in volume and 9.4% in turnover. Previously, in June, the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Environment signed 8 memorandums of understanding to import agricultural products from the US with a total value of nearly 3 billion USD. The largest agreement was the memorandum of understanding signed between Khai Anh Binh Thuan Joint Stock Company and Cargill Group (USA) with a value of 380 million USD. Vietnamese enterprises committed to importing 1.2 million tons of grain for animal feed, including corn, wheat and soybean meal from the US.

Mr. Tran Thanh Phong, Director of Thien But Production - Trade - Service Co., Ltd., who participated in the signing of the agreement between Thien But and Lamex Food Group and Niceland Foods, said: Since Vietnam signed the memorandum of understanding with the US, the import output of agricultural products from this country has increased sharply. The amount of frozen beef, pork, and chicken imported by the company from the US in the past 9 months has increased by 30% compared to the same period last year. "The import tax on frozen chicken thighs from the US is currently about 15%, while the import tax on the same type of goods from Australia and Korea is 0%. In the future, if the import tax on chicken thighs from the US is only 5%, many businesses will certainly switch to importing more from the US market. From now until the end of the year, the company will focus on purchasing soybeans...", Mr. Phong said.

Aiming for American high-tech products

According to the Customs Department, in the first 9 months of the year, the import turnover of goods from the US to Vietnam reached 13.7 billion USD, an increase of 23.6% over the same period last year. In addition to agricultural products, many businesses in Vietnam are increasingly searching for and importing machinery, medical equipment, high technology...

At the meeting with US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper on October 23, Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son affirmed that Vietnam will continue to increase purchases of US goods, especially high-tech products such as aircraft and semiconductor products, to expand the market for US goods and create conditions for US businesses to operate effectively in Vietnam. The Deputy Prime Minister also asked the US to continue to consider the specific factors of the Vietnamese economy in the process of negotiating a reciprocal tax agreement between the two countries. Ambassador Knapper affirmed that the US side hopes that the two sides will soon complete negotiations to implement the reciprocal tax agreement; especially attaching importance to promoting delegation exchanges and contacts at all levels, including high-level, to maintain the momentum of substantial and good development of relations between the two countries.

Sharing the same view, Prof. Dr. Vo Xuan Vinh, Director of the Institute of Business Research, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, commented that data shows that imported goods from the US to Vietnam are increasing very well, in line with the expectations of the two countries in their efforts to narrow the trade gap. In fact, for a long time, Vietnamese goods imported from the US have had two basic groups, which are agricultural products and consumer goods and input materials for production, processing and manufacturing activities. In these two groups of goods, US products have good quality and high safety standards. In particular, the prices of US goods are getting cheaper thanks to the lowered or 0% tariff barriers. The sharp increase in agricultural output imported from the US in recent times is the result of reduced taxes and better prices. However, with high-tech products, the demand in the Vietnamese market is very large, perhaps the time to research is still short, so there has not been a sudden acceleration from this commodity area.

Professor Vinh said: "In the face of the urgent need for growth and promoting the development of science and technology, the private sector is strongly participating... hopefully the import turnover from the US of input materials, machinery products, science and technology, especially semiconductors to serve production and development of Vietnam will increase sharply. In my opinion, if we know how to skillfully take advantage of good technologies, the process of technology conversion, improvement of production processes... of Vietnamese enterprises will take place faster and more effectively thanks to high technology from the US. Thereby, contributing to narrowing the bilateral trade balance and moving towards sustainable development according to the motto of mutual benefit", Professor, Dr. Vo Xuan Vinh shared.