Vietnam Earns US$5.16Bln from Exports to US Last Year
Vietnam's exports to the US fetched more than US$5.16 billion last year, a 15.4 per cent increase over 2003, according to the Vietnam Commerce Department in the US.
Major export staples include textiles and garments (accounting for 54.5 per cent), seafood and footwear (9.1 per cent), agro-forestry and foodstuff (6.8 per cent), furniture (7 per cent), and oil and gas (4.7 per cent).
Vietnam's exports only made up 0.35 per cent of the US import value in 2004. However, its export growth may depend on its supply, competitiveness and marketing capability, the department said.
Regarding major staples, Vietnam's textiles and garments have gained US importers' attention due to their quality and timely delivery. The US International Trade Commission said Vietnam and Indonesia are only Asian nations that can compete against China in exporting these products to the US.
Vietnam is considered to be the second supply source, after China, thanks to its cheap workforce and high-quality products, said the US Association of Importers of Textile and Apparel (USA-ITA). However, as of the beginning of this year, Vietnam's textiles and garment products still have to get quotas to export to the US while around 150 other exporters can sell their goods quota-free.
Meanwhile, the exports of frozen and processed seafood fell by more than 20 per cent from 2003 due to the anti-dumping lawsuit. The US Department of Commerce's Seafood Management Department revealed that the country's seafood consumption rose 13 per cent over 2003. To maintain its market share, Vietnamese exporting businesses should diversify products, reduce production costs, raise products' quality, and establish their representative offices in the US to build trademarks.
Vietnam currently ranks fifth among footwear exporters to the US, after China, Italy, Brazil, and Indonesia, with a share of around 2 per cent of US imports. The staple is promising as the US footwear import value is forecast to continue rising without fluctuations.
The Vietnam Commerce Department predicted that Vietnam's woodwork export value to the US may reach between US$500-550 million this year, an increase of around 50 per cent year on year while its total earnings may reach US$5.7-5.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 15-20 per cent.
Vietnam’s imports from the US last year, meanwhile, fell to US$1.12 billion, a decrease of 13.1 per cent.
VNA, Vietnam Economic Times
Vietnamese
