Vietnam-US trade hits record high in 2021

Workers of Hung Viet Co in Hung Yen province make garment products for export. (Photo: VNA)

Bilateral trade between Vietnam and the US set a new milestone, hitting 111.56 billion USD in 2021, up nearly 21 billion USD over the previous year, according to the General Department of Customs.

The impressive figure made the US the second trade partner having import-export turnover with Vietnam reaching the 100 billion USD mark after China.

Last year Vietnam's exports to the US rose 25 percent to nearly 96.3 billion USD, accounting for 28.6 percent of the country's total exports.

Among Vietnam's major export items to the US were machinery, equipment and parts with 17.82 billion USD, up 46 percent; textiles and garments (16.1 billion USD, up 15 percent); computers, electronics and components (12.76 billion USD; up 23 percent); handsets and parts (9.69 billion USD, up 10.3 percent); footwear (7.42 billion USD, up 18 percent); and wood and wooden products (8.8 billion USD, up 23 percent).

Last year, the country imported nearly 15.27 billion USD worth of goods from the US, mainly computers, electronics and components as well as machinery, equipment and parts.

Bui Huy Son, Counselor of the Vietnam Trade Office in the US, said that the two-way turnover, which exceeded 100 billion USD for the first time in 2021, was a very important achievement, especially given the pandemic, as well as the disruptions and disturbances in the supply chain and logistics activities.

Along with that, the active and flexible activities of two business communities continued to expand trade and investment activities, such as the resumption of direct flights between Vietnam and the US, and the fact that Vietnamese businesses were increasing investment in the US to continue to expand their presence sustainably in the market.

Looking at import and export activities, not only had the total two-way turnover reached a record level, but it was also worth mentioning that export activities from both directions had good growth rates, Sơn said, adding that the import and export goods between the two sides were very complementary.

To accelerate bilateral trade, Son called for continuous efforts from both sides, first of all in terms of the policy. The two sides should continue to maintain a dialogue channel, sharing information, and further enhancing mutual understanding so that they could detect and coordinate on problems favourably.

At the same time, businesses also needed to seize opportunities, especially opportunities from the strong recovery of the US economy, since different forecasts assessed a relatively high growth rate for the US economy in 2022.

He also suggested businesses closely observe market developments, ensure the requirements of legal traceability, storage, information about documents and invoices for the origin of goods, so that they could coordinate and provide information when there were requests for investigation and verification by US agencies./.