Vietnam - U.S.-Vietnam trade still in strong growth momentum

Despite difficulties in the U.S., two-way trade between this country and Vietnam continue to register a double-digit increase as showed by updates of the U.S. Census Bureau on its website.

Figures at www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance indicated the U.S. trade in goods with Vietnam surpassed US$10.15 billion in the first half of this year, a year-on-year rise of over 21%.

The U.S. imported merchandise worth more than US$8 billion and earned export revenue of over US$2.14 billion from Vietnam in the January-June period, as compared to some US$6.6 billion and US$1.7 billion in the first half of 2010.

Noticeably, Vietnam’s export revenue from the U.S. market rose month-on-month in the second quarter of this year, from nearly US$1.36 billion in April to more than US$1.43 billion in May and US$1.52 billion in June. On the opposite direction, Vietnam saw the U.S. imports down to more than US$351 million in May from US$385 million in April before inching up to US$358 million in June.

Apparel still topped the list of Vietnamese products shipped to the country’s biggest export market in the first half of this year as this brought about revenue of over US$3 billion, recording strong growth of around 18.5% over the same period last year. 

Footwear was Vietnam’s second biggest earner from the selective market in the six months ended in June as its export value stateside rose 27% year-on-year to nearly US$968 million, followed by furniture with 4.5% and US$837 million respectively.

Electronic items and seafood were also among Vietnam’s major export products bound for the U.S. in the year to June, with the latter’s earnings up 49% to more than US$332 million.

Fabric and fiber appeared as the top U.S. merchandise exported to Vietnam in the January-June period, with a whopping year-on-year increase of 155% to over US$262 million. The other major export earners included steel, machinery, equipment and accessories.

Last year, bilateral trade between the U.S. and Vietnam neared US$19 billion, a significant rise of about 20% over the year earlier. Vietnamese exports accounted for more than US$14.8 billion of the total number.

By Binh Nguyen - The Saigon Times Daily
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