Vietnam strives to increase competitiveness for exports to US market
There is great potential for Vietnam to increase its agricultural, forestry, and aquatic exports to the US, particularly when the quality and competitiveness of its products are improved.
In 2024 January, the Mekong Delta province of An Giang on exported a total of seven tonnes of green-peel elephant mango (Mangifera Indica) to Australia and the US. The move affirmed the position of the locality’s fruit in demanding markets like Australia and the US.
This is also a significant event of the local agricultural sector, helping bring about enormous economic opportunities while bolstering the image and reputation of the province’s agricultural products in the international market.
According to Nguyen Dinh Tung chairman of Vina T&T Group and vice president of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said, the U.S. is the second largest fruit and vegetable market for Vietnam after China. Vina T&T’s exports to that country last year were worth US$73 million, or nearly 60% of all Vietnamese exports.
According to statitics, in 2023, the US was the second largest market for Vietnam’s agro-forestry-fishery products, accounting for 20.7% of its total export turnover.
The Foreign Trade Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that, statistics from the US International Trade Commission showed that in the first 10 months of 2023, the US imported 1.43 million tonnes of rubber.
However, Vietnam exported just 20,370 tonnes worth 28.99 million USD to the US, ranking 13th among rubber suppliers to this market, and making up only 1.42% of the US's total rubber imports.
In the US market, Vietnamese rubber has to compete with that from many markets including Indonesia and Thailand whose market share in the US reached 25.13% and 14.28% respectively. Meanwhile, in 2023, up to 88.7% of total cashew nuts imported into the US were from Vietnam.
Among fisheries exporters to the US in the 10 months of last year, Vietnam was the one with the strongest increase in volume and the second highest rise in value.
Notably, the US's imports of shrimp, tra fish, and tuna from Vietnam saw positive growth. According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Vietnam is currently the 6th largest aquatic product supplier to the US, after Canada, Chile, India, Indonesia, and Ecuador.
Regarding the consumption trend of tra fish in 2024, the US will not only focus on frozen fillet fish – a key product of Vietnam but also gradually increase consumption of processed tra fish and high value-added products such as swim bladder and tra fish paste. This requires the Vietnamese seafood industry to diversify its products and focus on deep processing to increase competitiveness in this major market.
Regarding other products, Trade Counsellor of Vietnam in the US Do Ngoc Hung said that in 2022, the total export turnover of cinnamon from Vietnam to the US reached about 50 million USD, accounting for 35% of the US's total cinnamon impor turnover. Vietnam’s cardamom shipments to the US fetched about 5 million USD, making up 13%.
Cinnamon and cardamom are not only popular spices but are also widely used in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. They have also been added to beverages such as tea, coffee, and other nutritional supplements.
Hung said that US consumers are increasingly interested in immune-boosting products, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, so the demand for cinnamon and cardamom essential oils continues to rise.
These are significant values in sustainable development and have the potential to promote Vietnamese cinnamon and cardamom exports in the US market, Hung stressed.
He suggested localities have plans to ensure high-quality raw material areas with the application of organic farming standards to enhance Vietnamese products’ competitiveness against similar products from other countries like Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India.
Processing businesses should promote the application of scientific and technological advances and actively participate in international trade fairs to widely promote Vietnamese cinnamon and cardamom products in the market, he said.
