Production activities at Viet Thanh Export Garment Company Limited.
Looking for opportunities
In the first quarter of 2025, Vietnam's exports to the United States reached 31.4 billion USD, up 22% over the same period; imports reached 4.1 billion USD, up 21% over the same period last year. This shows that the foreign trade structure of the two countries is complementary, not directly competitive, and helps US consumers access Vietnamese exports with increasingly improved quality and competitive prices.
Mr. Do Ngoc Hung, Trade Counselor in the United States, commented: Bilateral trade activities between Vietnam and the United States have been facing challenges related to tariffs, but there are still opportunities in challenges. Leading consumer goods corporations in the retail sector such as Walmart, Target (30% of imports from Vietnam), Costco, HomeDepot, in a meeting with President Donald Trump, sounded the alarm that tariff policies are negatively affecting consumer sentiment and causing pressure to increase prices. The trade and economic instability makes consumers more cautious in spending, clearly affecting business results (if it lasts for just a few weeks, the shelves will be empty). From another perspective, many large US enterprises expressed their support and confidence that Vietnam will reach an agreement with the US, through removing reciprocal tariffs and considering attending the international purchasing event organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in September 2025 in Vietnam (Vietnam International Sourcing Expo 2025).
High-level exchanges, specifically the phone call between General Secretary To Lam and President Donald Trump, the working trips of the Vietnamese special envoy, as well as most recently the phone call on April 23 between the Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade and the Chief of the US Trade Representative, have demonstrated the strategic and consistent vision of the Party and Government leaders in strengthening the comprehensive strategic cooperative relationship between the two countries. After the phone call on April 23, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) published a press release recording the results of the exchange with Vietnam. Through discussions with a number of consulting units, the above move as well as the serious consideration of the proposal for a high-level bilateral meeting and the invitation of an interdisciplinary working group to meet to kick off negotiations demonstrate the US's interest and importance in Vietnam. Currently, Vietnam is in the group of countries the US prioritizes for negotiations, including India, the UK, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Timely support for businesses
Recently, the Trade Promotion Agency, Ministry of Industry and Trade held a conference on trade promotion with the Vietnamese Trade Office system abroad in April 2025 with the theme "Proactively adapting to the trade war and the US's reciprocal tax policy: The role of the trade promotion system and trade offices in protecting and developing export markets". According to Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Trade Promotion Agency, in response to the US's reciprocal tax policy on imported goods from Vietnam, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has held many conferences to consult with associations and find solutions to respond. This conference continues to update the situation, analyze the impact of reciprocal tax policies from the US and other countries, and assess the current situation and difficulties of export enterprises in the new context; recommendations and proposals from industry associations and enterprises.
Textile and garment is one of the industries that is greatly affected by the US's reciprocal tax policy, said Mr. Truong Van Cam, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association: Currently, enterprises are working hard to complete orders within the 90 days of the US tax deferral. Enterprises really need the latest information to assess the market situation and decide whether to continue signing orders or not. Therefore, the trade office regularly informs about the market situation, the latest trends of consumers in this market, as well as the progress of tax policy negotiations. Many opinions say that the business community trusts and expects the response solutions of the authorities, but enterprises still cannot avoid many concerns and insecurities. Therefore, enterprises hope that the authorities and Vietnamese trade offices abroad will support the industry to open up potential markets for enterprises to expand their markets.
According to Mr. Do Ngoc Hung, Vietnam needs to continue to strengthen diplomatic efforts and negotiations to lobby for the settlement of reciprocal tax issues, and implement a specific roadmap for Vietnam to protect its trade interests against potential tariff measures from the United States. At the same time, strengthen strategic cooperation with the United States to ensure sustainable development in bilateral relations between the two countries, from industry to trade, investment, energy, artificial intelligence, etc. In addition, diversify export markets through FTAs, especially new generation FTAs; stimulate domestic demand through measures to promote domestic consumption to compensate for the potential decline in export reduction. Enterprises also enhance domestic competitiveness, thereby strengthening exports through investment in enhancing the overall competitiveness of key supporting and foundational industries, upgrading technology, encouraging innovation, simplifying business regulations and improving infrastructure to reduce production costs and improve product quality.
Article and photos: MY THANH
Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/no-luc-dam-phan-go-thue-doi-ung-tu-hoa-ky-a186176.html
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