Vietnam likely to enter top seven trade partners of US: Bloomberg

Vietnam is on track this year to bump Britain from its long-time place among the US’s top seven goods trading partners, according to an article run by Bloomberg on December 19.

The article cited data from the US Census Bureau showing that the UK’s share of the US merchandise trade slid to 2.6% through the first 10 months of this year while Vietnam’s rose to 2.7%.

In full-year numbers going back almost 20 years, the top seven US partners in goods trade have consistently been Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, Germany, the Republic of Korea and the UK, though their position within the group has shifted around, it said.

Vietnam didn’t appear in the bureau’s top-15 list until 2019, and it has climbed ever since, ending last year at No. 10. If Vietnam’s lead over the UK holds for the final two months of 2022, it will be the first time that a majority of the top seven are Asian economies, read the article.

The numbers reflect trends that both predate the pandemic and were accelerated by it. China’s share of US goods trade, which stood at 13.2% in October, has been edging down since it peaked on a full-year basis at 16.4% in 2017.

As American companies sought suppliers outside of China during the trade war between Beijing and Washington, the share of US trade with countries like Mexico and Vietnam has been rising, it noted.

Vietnam’s total exports from January to November were up 13.4% over the same period last year, according to Vietnam's General Statistics Office.