Despite many negative impacts due to Covid-19, in the first 6 months of 2020, the import-export situation between Vietnam and the US still showed positive signs of growth.
The US is still Vietnam’s largest export market with a turnover of 31.5 billion USD, up 14.64% over the same period last year. At the same time, import turnover from the US also reached more than 7 billion USD, up 2.01% over the same period last year.
1.The situation of exporting goods from Vietnam to the US:
In the first half of the year, the six largest export commodity groups to this market reached over billion USD in turnover: textiles and garments reached 6.19 billion USD (19.64%); Computers, electronic products and components reached 4.38 billion USD (13.92%); Telephone and accessories reached 3.97 billion USD (12.59%); Machinery, equipment, tools and other spare parts reached 3.77 billion USD (11.96%); Footwear of all kinds reached 2.93 billion USD (9.31%); Wood and wooden products reached 2.6 billion USD (8.27%).
The major export commodity groups to the US such as textiles, garments, agriculture – aquatic products – seafood, computers, phones … all have large numbers and rich categories.
The export structure changes in the direction of increasing the group of processed and manufactured goods, gradually increasing the added value. Among the 6 groups mentioned above, 3 groups with turnover growth over the same period are: computers, electronic products and components (+ 91.08%); Other machines, equipment, tools and spare parts (+ 82.42%); Wood and wood products (+ 15.34%).
The United States is the world’s leading market for textile and footwear products. With export turnover to the US growing quite 53.77% in June but all 6 months of this commodity decreased by 11.89% compared to the same period in 2019.
In the context of the great impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the overall import-export activities between the two countries still saw optimistic growth. Some items of Vietnam exported to the US increased sharply such as toys, sports equipment and parts reaching 559.18 million USD (+ 126.91%); Electrical wires and cables reached USD 240.17 million (+ 100.86%); Animal feed and materials reached 46.98 million USD (+ 181.81%) …
For agricultural products, right after receiving the action plan of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Vietnam Trade Office in the United States has implemented measures to support businesses and trade promotion for specific commodity groups such as vegetables, fruits and fruits that have been granted import permits by the US such as: dragon fruit, litchi, and rambutan. At the same time, continue to request the US to accelerate the process of considering and granting import permits for grapefruit. Export turnover of fruits and vegetables in the first two quarters of 2020 reached US $ 76.97 million, up 9.81% over the same period last year.
The situation of exporting Vietnamese goods to the US by commodity
(Source: General Department of Vietnam Customs)
Unit: USD
| Commodity | June/2020 | Compared with May/2020 (%) | The first 6 months of 2020 | Compared with 2019 (%) | Density 6 months of 2020 (%) |
| Total export turnover | 6.417.759.873 | 30,84 | 31.503.553.182 | 14,64 | 100 |
| Textiles | 1.346.832.851 | 53,77 | 6.187.155.033 | -11,89 | 19,64 |
| Computers. electronic products and components | 903.090.815 | 11,43 | 4.384.841.676 | 91,08 | 13,92 |
| Phones of all kinds and components | 576.299.316 | 44,79 | 3.966.861.067 | -5,18 | 12,59 |
| Machinery. equipment and other spare tools | 834.138.885 | 17,75 | 3.766.813.755 | 82,42 | 11,96 |
| Footwear | 504.966.885 | 14,72 | 2.934.206.369 | -7,71 | 9,31 |
| Wood and wood products | 590.903.487 | 42,04 | 2.604.717.776 | 15,34 | 8,27 |
| Means of transport and spare parts | 128.038.188 | 3,91 | 752.917.916 | 0,33 | 2,39 |
| Seafood | 163.465.073 | 51,43 | 653.621.917 | 0,55 | 2,07 |
| Bags. wallets. suitcases. umbrellas. umbrellas | 112.520.932 | 44,56 | 601.534.880 | -21,4 | 1,91 |
| Toys, sports equipment and parts | 143.562.718 | 97,12 | 559.179.326 | 126,91 | 1,77 |
| Cashew | 72.599.649 | -18,49 | 523.365.950 | 8,99 | 1,66 |
| Products from plastic | 87.948.749 | 18,81 | 429.198.479 | 48,55 | 1,36 |
| Products from iron and steel | 47.509.418 | 0,72 | 269.103.579 | -17,04 | 0,85 |
| Other common metals and products | 43.581.086 | 13,92 | 246.257.879 | 14,72 | 0,78 |
| Wires and cables | 42.896.134 | -23,31 | 240.170.326 | 100,86 | 0,76 |
| Paper and paper products | 23.440.259 | -31,89 | 148.970.964 | 48,15 | 0,47 |
| Coffee | 18.753.600 | -15,4 | 142.958.839 | -2,8 | 0,45 |
| Precious stones, precious metals and products | 35.991.602 | 717,35 | 127.436.393 | -31,52 | 0,4 |
| Products from rubber | 18.407.643 | 21,58 | 97.859.253 | 11,86 | 0,31 |
| Rattan, bamboo, rush and carpet products | 20.721.072 | 37,45 | 88.913.509 | 47,5 | 0,28 |
| Steels | 11.830.103 | 15,48 | 86.654.692 | -60,94 | 0,28 |
| Cameras,camcorders and components | 20.850.093 | 43,71 | 79.153.585 | 96,72 | 0,25 |
| Vegetable | 14.902.050 | 16,79 | 76.971.677 | 9,81 | 0,24 |
| Pepper | 9.888.717 | -18,62 | 71.429.158 | -7,53 | 0,23 |
| Ceramic products | 6.738.169 | 19,68 | 54.827.005 | 17,96 | 0,17 |
| Textile,garment, leather and footwear materials | 11.586.933 | 32,15 | 49.783.069 | 62,02 | 0,16 |
| Animal feed and raw materials | 11.141.495 | 19,19 | 46.985.439 | 181,81 | 0,15 |
| Confectionery and cereal products | 10.090.285 | 0,1 | 46.608.546 | 49,99 | 0,15 |
| Fabric blinds. other technical fabrics | 3.733.384 | 96,04 | 40.724.102 | -61,86 | 0,13 |
| Fibers and yarns of all kinds | 6.568.349 | 25,39 | 33.766.268 | 15,55 | 0,11 |
| Glass and glass products | 5.644.663 | 65,97 | 31.968.037 | 8,72 | 0,1 |
| Crude oil | 22.778.607 | 0,07 | |||
| Chemical products | 5.175.906 | 19,55 | 21.784.219 | 26,91 | 0,07 |
| Chemical | 2.168.307 | -8,08 | 14.521.495 | -17,42 | 0,05 |
| Rubber | 2.161.899 | 146,94 | 14.323.623 | -19,33 | 0,05 |
| Rice | 2.265.659 | -3,6 | 7.634.044 | 56,11 | 0,02 |
| Tea | 605.649 | 58,04 | 3.618.009 | 7,75 | 0,01 |
| Other commodity | 576.739.850 | 54 | 2.073.936.720 | 60,12 | 6,58 |
2.The situation of importing goods from USA to Vietnam:
Computers, electronic products and components are mainly imported from the US with a turnover of 2.28 billion USD, accounting for 32.39% of the total import turnover (7.04 billion USD). of the country in the first half of the year. This is also the only item worth USD billion.
There are 12 groups reaching a turnover of hundred million USD when importing goods from this market. In which, 2 groups with value of over 500 million USD, namely: Cotton of all kinds reached 813.11 million USD (capturing 11.55% of market share); Other machines, equipment, tools and spare parts reached 521.07 million USD (capturing 7.4% market share).
Some items with quite lower turnovers such as: Food and raw materials reached 233.03 million USD (-28.33%); Textile, garment, leather and footwear materials reached USD 201.85 million (-22.54%); Means of transport and spare parts reached 105.47 million USD (-46.04%) …
The items with turnover growth over the same period are: Soybeans reached 196.37 million USD (+ 33.87%); Vegetable and fruit products reached 148.39 million USD (+ 27.54%); Pharmaceuticals reached 126.72 million USD (+ 53.01%) …
The situation of importing Vietnamese goods to the US by commodity
(Source: General Department of Vietnam Customs)
Unit: USD
| Commodity | June 2020 | Compared with May 2020 (%) | The first 6 months of 2020 | Compared with 2019 (%) | Density 6 months of 2020 (%) |
| Total import turnover | 1.058.102.821 | -13,68 | 7.042.508.336 | 2,01 | 100 |
| Computers, electronic products and components | 376.308.309 | -0,79 | 2.281.051.662 | 3,66 | 32,39 |
| Cotton of all kinds | 119.800.945 | -20,13 | 813.106.150 | -16,86 | 11,55 |
| Machinery, equipment, tools and other spare parts | 80.276.711 | 4,15 | 521.071.017 | 1,42 | 7,4 |
| Plastic materials | 53.324.781 | -1,76 | 380.641.280 | 1,38 | 5,4 |
| Animal feed and raw materials | 38.949.560 | -35,26 | 233.033.531 | -28,33 | 3,31 |
| Textile, garment, leather and footwear materials | 24.321.390 | -22,26 | 201.849.484 | -22,54 | 2,87 |
| Soybean | 22.662.809 | 16,98 | 196.369.602 | 33,87 | 2,79 |
| Chemical products | 28.216.046 | -0,58 | 185.581.926 | 3,68 | 2,64 |
| Wood and wood products | 29.174.448 | 6,52 | 169.663.381 | -0,85 | 2,41 |
| Vegetable goods | 23.435.431 | 4,04 | 148.393.026 | 27,54 | 2,11 |
| Medicine | 14.936.423 | -26,96 | 126.716.983 | 53,01 | 1,8 |
| Other food preparations | 18.377.628 | -28,87 | 115.805.255 | -12,55 | 1,64 |
| Other means of transport and spare parts | 6.303.520 | -84,68 | 105.473.558 | -46,04 | 1,5 |
| Milk and milk products | 13.239.091 | -24,9 | 95.198.166 | 34,33 | 1,35 |
| Chemistry | 19.160.915 | 32,49 | 86.326.478 | -8,34 | 1,23 |
| Iron and steel scrap | 12.128.322 | -6,25 | 84.994.843 | -40,43 | 1,21 |
| Products from plastic | 9.778.675 | -0,21 | 73.098.506 | 24,13 | 1,04 |
| Wheat | 5.656.630 | -70,18 | 57.140.768 | 30212,44 | 0,81 |
| Seafood | 5.927.012 | -13,31 | 35.569.285 | -24,23 | 0,51 |
| Products from iron and steel | 4.760.285 | -9,25 | 35.310.357 | 6,99 | 0,5 |
| Aromatic substances, cosmetics and toilet preparations | 6.413.962 | -3,36 | 34.100.963 | 9 | 0,48 |
| Glass and glass products | 3.341.766 | 77,73 | 23.834.440 | -26,49 | 0,34 |
| CBU cars of all kinds | 2.105.012 | -51,47 | 21.900.809 | -11,19 | 0,31 |
| Rubber | 3.570.108 | 64,24 | 17.971.590 | 6,64 | 0,26 |
| Other products from petroleum | 2.880.281 | 163,81 | 17.970.297 | 75,21 | 0,26 |
| Other common metals | 1.359.197 | -62,34 | 16.442.159 | 130,8 | 0,23 |
| Fabrics of all kinds | 2.698.484 | -26,84 | 15.302.580 | 3,6 | 0,22 |
| Wires and cables | 3.883.039 | 132,38 | 12.560.141 | 126,03 | 0,18 |
| Paper types | 1.546.976 | -30,2 | 12.128.722 | -2,93 | 0,17 |
| Products from other common metal | 984.616 | -13,56 | 10.859.288 | -25,54 | 0,15 |
| Products from rubber | 1.445.520 | -8,55 | 9.990.161 | 3,98 | 0,14 |
| Ores and other minerals | 1.375.297 | 53,39 | 9.549.501 | -28,25 | 0,14 |
| Car components, spare parts | 846.734 | -45,6 | 9.524.271 | 8,57 | 0,14 |
| Pesticides and raw materials | 902.392 | -35,61 | 6.959.240 | 38,17 | 0,1 |
| Iron and steel of all kinds | 761.402 | -41,19 | 6.831.153 | -18,42 | 0,1 |
| Tobacco raw materials | 930.261 | -38,5 | 6.573.680 | -51,11 | 0,09 |
| Fertilizers of all kinds | 545.125 | -76,46 | 6.407.526 | 71,84 | 0,09 |
| Paper products | 974.285 | -24,87 | 5.464.038 | 10,55 | 0,08 |
| Cameras, camcorders and components | 1.761.948 | 229,97 | 4.786.587 | -54,26 | 0,07 |
| Confectionery and cereal products | 306.067 | -76,4 | 4.323.661 | -14,52 | 0,06 |
| Precious stones, precious metals and products | 1.171.883 | 240,29 | 4.303.262 | -24,98 | 0,06 |
| Animal and vegetable fats and oils | 672.518 | 37,25 | 3.587.303 | 6,47 | 0,05 |
| Phones of all kinds and components | 38.266 | -98,13 | 2.535.105 | 46,35 | 0,04 |
| Other goods | 110.848.747 | -29,68 | 832.206.600 | 61,31 | 11,82 |
