The forum, themed “Thirty years of economic and trade cooperation - Overcoming challenges toward a new era”, was jointly organised by the Foreign Market Development Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the American Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam to mark three decades since the normalisation of bilateral ties and twenty-five years since the signing of the Bilateral Trade Agreement.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Viet Nam’s exports to the US reached an estimated 138.6 billion USD in the first eleven months of 2025, accounting for more than 32% of total export turnover. The US remains Viet Nam’s largest export market, with key items including electronics, computers, phones, textiles and garments, footwear, wood products and seafood.
Matt Priest, President and CEO of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, noted that Viet Nam has become an essential link in global supply chains thanks to its capacity to meet large orders and its growing transparency and production standards.
Economist Tran Toan Thang from the Ministry of Finance cautioned that heavy dependence on the US market poses high risks for major export sectors such as wood, textiles, electronics and seafood.
The wood industry, in which Viet Nam is Asia’s largest exporter of wooden furniture to the US, faces the danger of order cancellations and long-term supply chain disruptions if high US tariffs persist.
Textiles, garments and footwear face strong competition from countries with lower labour costs, while the electronics sector risks factory relocations by foreign invested enterprises. Seafood exports may decline due to price competition and anti-dumping actions.
Around 75% of Viet Nam’s exports to the US come from FDI enterprises, including major US corporations, meaning retaliatory tariffs could undermine both trade flows and investment motivation. The US may also apply concurrent anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard measures, significantly limiting market access.
Experts emphasised that Vietnamese businesses must restructure export markets, invest in technology and innovation and reduce over reliance on a single destination. Core solutions include supply chain transparency, improved traceability and proactive trade defence.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade urged firms to raise production standards, strengthen risk management and comply with new regulatory requirements to ensure sustainable growth.
