The US becomes Vietnam's largest export market.

As of November 2024, the US is the leading country with a market share of 21.7%, followed by China with 21.6% and Japan with 6.6%.

Vietnam's rice exports in 2024 are estimated to reach 5.7 billion USD, an increase of 10.6% over the previous year - Photo: BUU DAU

Speaking at the conference to promote export At the conference on agriculture, forestry and fisheries organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Ho Chi Minh City on December 16, Mr. Nguyen Anh Phong, Deputy Director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, said that 2024 is a breakthrough year for Vietnamese agriculture in both production and export.

There are 11 items with export turnover of over 1 billion USD, with 7 items reaching over 3 billion USD.

Commodities such as coffee, pepper, rubber and rice all recorded double-digit growth, notably coffee up 56.9%, pepper up 53.3% and rubber up 24.6%.

Notably, the US has surpassed China to become export markets Vietnam's largest. As of November 2024, the US is the leading country with a market share of 21.7%, followed by China with 21.6% and Japan with 6.6%.

However, according to Mr. Phong, cooperation with China has still reached many important milestones. Vietnam has signed protocols to open the door for frozen durian, fresh coconut and farmed crocodile, helping durian exports reach 3.2 - 3.5 billion USD, an increase of 1.75 times compared to 2023.

In addition, Vietnamese agricultural products appear for the first time on platforms. e-commerce China's giants like TikTok, Taobao, JD.com and Xiaohongshu and open up opportunities to reach new consumers.

Mr. Phong forecasts that the demand for vegetables and seafood in China will continue to increase strongly from now until 2029, with growth rates of 6.64% and 7.56% per year, respectively.

Economic cooperation between Vietnam and China is increasingly deepening thanks to important agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement.

However, Mr. Nong Duc Lai, Vietnam's trade counselor in China, warned that Vietnam is among the 10 countries with the most warned goods in this market.

Violations mainly involved excess additives, mold and pathogen contamination, and inadequate labeling.

According to Mr. Lai, Chinese consumers, especially in urban areas, increasingly pay attention to the quality, health factors and origin of products.

"This requires Vietnamese enterprises to strictly comply with international standards, improve management systems and traceability to meet increasingly demanding markets," Mr. Lai recommended.

In addition, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam will face many challenges in the US market due to increasingly strict trade protection policies, especially in the context of increasingly high requirements for sustainable development and green standards.

In particular, the re-election of Donald Trump could lead to stronger protectionist trade policies, with tough tariff barriers and increasingly high technical regulations.

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