Just when Vietnam was catching China up
Vietnam was an early mover when countries began asking the US for new trade talks in the wake of April’s tariff turmoil.
According to reports, the government in Hanoi has now promised to buy more US goods if its counterpart in Washington DC agrees to lower from the startling 46% announced on April 2 the tariff rates it will apply to imports from the Asian country. Discussions are ongoing.
The same cannot be said at the moment for China. US president, Donald Trump, said he would announce a further increase to tariffs on imports from China on April 8 if China insists on a retaliatory increase of 34% on imports from the US.
New tariff levels for products coming into the US market from China could reach the astounding figure of 104% if neither side backs down.
China has been the biggest Asian exporter to the US for years but all the April antagonism has come at a time when, at least when it comes to exports of apparel and footwear, Vietnam was catching up.
Figures from the US Census Bureau show that, in 2024, the US imported clothes and shoes from China with a value of $27.1 billion. The corresponding figure for Vietnam was $23.6 billion. This difference between the two manufacturing countries, $3.5 billion, is the narrowest it has ever been.
In 2014, China’s exports to the US of footwear and clothing had a value of $47.5 billion, while Vietnam’s exports in this category brought in export revenues of $12.8 billion that year. Since then, the increase for Vietnam has been as steady as the decrease for China.
Both countries saw sharp dips in 2020 when the covid-19 crisis began, steep recoveries in 2022 in an initial post-covid boost, then falls again in 2023 when the post-pandemic consumer spending euphoria wore off.
By last year, though, Vietnam’s exports of shoes and apparel had more than recovered their 2019 value, while China’s were $11.5 billion lower than before the pandemic.
Image: Puma.
