Vietnam’s trade surplus with US hits record as exports surge despite tariffs
The nation is in talks with Washington but has so far shrugged off US duties of 20% on its goods
[HANOI] Vietnam’s trade surplus with the US, its main market, rose to US$121.6 billion in the first 11 months of the year, official data showed on Saturday (Dec 6), as exports surged despite US import tariffs imposed in August on Vietnamese goods.
The nation is still in talks on a trade deal with Washington but has so far largely shrugged off US duties of 20 per cent imposed on its goods by the Trump administration to cut Vietnam’s huge trade advantage.
Exports to the US rose year on year by 22.5 per cent in November, outpacing shipments to the rest of the world, which increased by 15.1 per cent, according to Vietnam’s statistics agency.
The surge in exports to the US translated into a record trade surplus, which in the January-to-November period already far exceeds the reading for all of 2024, when it hit US$104.5 billion, according to Vietnamese data that is usually more conservative than US figures.
The latest US customs data is for August.
Month-on-month, however, Vietnam’s November exports fell 7.1 per cent to about US$39 billion, and shipments to the US went down by 7.3 per cent after a decline of 2.2 per cent in October.
November was the fourth consecutive month that month-on-month exports to the US have fallen.
Growth in Vietnam’s trade surplus with the US also slowed to US$10.6 billion in November from US$11.8 billion in October.
In a sign of how dependent the country is on its exports to the US, its overall trade surplus was US$1.09 billion in November, down from US$2.6 billion in October.
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Vietnam said last month it was working to sign a trade agreement with the US soon, after the two countries in October said they had agreed to a framework for the deal.
Vietnam’s trade deficit with China grows
For the first 11 months of this year, Vietnam recorded a total trade surplus of US$20.53 billion – mostly on a positive balance with the US, the European Union and Japan – which more than offset deficits with China and South Korea.
The trade deficit with China in the January-to-November period rose 38.1 per cent year on year to US$104.3 billion.
Finance Minister Nguyen Van Thang on Saturday said foreign investment inflows in the January-to-November period rose 8.9 per cent from a year earlier to US$23.6 billion, while pledges were up 7.4 per cent.
However, he noted the country was facing increasing economic challenges, including from US tariffs and the impact of widespread flooding in recent months.
Separately, consumer prices in November rose 3.58 per cent from a year earlier, data from the statistics agency showed, while industrial production climbed 10.8 per cent. REUTERS
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