On January 9, 2023, the Office of the General Department of Vietnam Customs informed the press that in 2022, Vietnam’s exports to the US are estimated at 109.4 billion USD and imports from this market are 14.5 billion USD. Thus, this is the second year in a row that bilateral trade between the two countries hit 100 billion USD. Although the trade balance is in favor of Vietnam, Vietnam also imports many important goods from the United States. Here are the 5 types of goods with the highest import turnover from this country in 2022.

 

1. Computers, Electronic Products And Parts Thereof

In 2022, computers, electronic products and parts thereof are Vietnam’s largest import item from the United States, with an import turnover of $3.4 billion. The United States is the birthplace of the world’s tech giants such as Apple, Intel, Microsoft, … Many of them have already opened production factories in Vietnam, some are moving production lines to Vietnam, so the import turnover of this item from the United States is mostly contributed by FDI companies.

However, the demand for consumer electronic devices is very high. The reason is said to be the low localization rate of Vietnam’s electronics industry, only 5-10%. Many domestic manufacturers have joined the industry’s value chain, but most of them provide low technological contents. Foreign businesses are taking larger chunks of consumer market share from local competitors and Vietnamese consumers tend to choose foreign brands, especially the United States. 

2. Cotton

With an import turnover of 1.3 billion USD (2022), along with computers, electronic products and components, cotton has become a commodity with an import turnover of over 1 billion USD from the United States. The development of the yarn spinning industry, stemming from the requirements for rules of origin “from yarn onwards” in free trade agreements – in order to enjoy preferential treatment from member countries, textile products must use raw materials (from yarn) imported from member countries, not use materials from other countries – making Vietnam’s cotton import demand increase sharply in recent years. Cotton originating from the United States, despite its high price and fluctuating market, has good quality and beautiful colors, so it is preferred by many domestic enterprises, especially processing enterprises that need to fulfill the standard export.

 

3. Machinery, Mechanical Appliances And Parts Thereof

Vietnam’s import turnover of this item from the United States of America is 968.1 million USD in 2022. Like computers, electronic products and components, machinery, mechanical appliances and parts thereof is not the strength of Vietnam. Domestic enterprises can only produce simple machines, while complex and large-capacity machines and complicated components for production are completely imported. Besides China, the United States is also a large import market of Vietnam because of the machines, especially the machines in the production line which are mostly bound for export purposes.

 

4. Prepared Animal Fodder And Materials

The main imported products of this item can be mentioned as corn, soybean meal, … Due to the high growth rate of the livestock industry in Vietnam recently, the domestic source of homemade feed materials (rice bran, broken, cassava, corn ..) is not enough to meet demand, resulting in increasing imports of industrial animal feed and raw materials for animal feed production from abroad. Although the USA is not the largest supplier of animal feed and raw materials to Vietnam, it is also an important import market for our country’s livestock industry with an import value of USD 772.9 million (2022).

 

5. Plastics And Articles Thereof

In 2022, Vietnam imports USD 692.8 million of plastic raw materials for production from the United States. Plastic industry in recent years has seen a dramatic growth rate, the next year is always higher than the previous year, with an average of 10%-15%, showing that the plastic industry is one of the dynamic and potential industries. The domestic source of raw materials has not met the demand, so the need to import raw materials is predictable. The United States is among the top 10 largest raw materials import markets of Vietnam, so this can be considered as an important plastic raw material import market of Vietnam’s plastic industry.

 

Besides exporting agricultural, forestry and fishery products, etc. to the US, Vietnam is also a country importing high value products from the US, proving that Vietnam is an important market in Southeast Asia. Bilateral trade between the two countries is also forecast to grow in the near future despite signs of an economic crisis in 2023. The export of the above items to Vietnam will face many difficulties if businesses do not have the deep knowledge about the market, legal regulations, paperwork, etc… Therefore, Noble Network with our experience and knowledge of both US and Vietnamese markets, will help you solve those problems.

 

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