Vietnam's exports saw a slight decline last month, with exports to the United States decreasing for the third consecutive month, indicating that the impact of tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration is now becoming more apparent.
According to Yonhap News Agency and the General Statistics Office (GSO) of Vietnam on November 8, Vietnam's export value in October was 42.05 billion dollars (approximately 61.3 trillion won), down 1.5% from the previous month. Compared to the same period last year, exports increased by 17.5%, but this fell short of the 19.5% growth projected by Bloomberg.
In particular, exports to the United States amounted to 13.4 billion dollars (about 19.5 trillion won), marking a 2.2% decrease and continuing a downward trend for the third straight month since August. This decline is steeper than the 1.4% drop recorded in September.
Previously, on August 7, the Trump administration began imposing a 20% reciprocal tariff on Vietnamese imports. By product category, exports of mobile phones to the United States, which are highly dependent on the American market, plummeted by 15.2%, suffering the most significant blow. Samsung Electronics is the largest exporter of mobile phones from Vietnam to the United States. Meanwhile, exports of textiles and garments to the U.S. fell by 7%, but footwear exports increased by 15%.
Due to this export slowdown, Vietnam's trade surplus in October was about 2.6 billion dollars (approximately 3.79 trillion won), down from 2.85 billion dollars in the previous month.
The cumulative trade surplus from January to October this year was 19.56 billion dollars (about 28.5 trillion won), a 16% decrease compared to the same period last year (23.18 billion dollars).
On the other hand, the trade deficit with China, Vietnam's main import source, rose by 39% during the same period to 93.9 billion dollars (about 137 trillion won).
Meanwhile, on October 26, Vietnam and the United States reached a broad agreement on trade and tariff negotiations during President Trump's visit to Malaysia.
Under this agreement, Vietnam will grant most-favored-nation status to nearly all American products, while the United States will apply zero tariffs to certain Vietnamese products. The detailed terms of the agreement are expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.
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