3:26:37 PM | 7/8/2005
Vietnam is expected to export woodwork worth of US$500-550 million to the US this year, up from US$360 million last year, according to the Vietnamese Trade Ministry.
The expected increase is partly attributed to sharp reduction of tariffs levied by the US on Vietnamese woodwork while imposing anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese wooden products. In recent years, the US has slashed taxes on local Vietnamese furniture to 0-3 per cent from 50-60 per cent.
US importers are intensifying exploitation of more markets, including Vietnam, instead of focusing too much on key markets like China.
In 2004, the US became Vietnam’s largest importer of wooden products. The positive results were also attributed to the good quality of Vietnam-made wooden products, as well as trade promotion and marketing programs launched by domestic enterprises.
However, businesses involved in wood processing, particularly State-owned and small enterprises, still have to deal with the high cost of transport, a lack of raw materials and the weak capacity of design patterns.
Vietnam, which earned US$1.2 billion from exporting woodwork to the world market last year, shipped abroad wooden products valued at US$264 million in the first quarter of this year, posting a year-on-year increase of 17.9 per cent.
Vietnam, which currently has a wood reserve of 600 million cubic meters, can exploit some 3 million cubic meters of wood each year.
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