"Golden opportunity" to export goods to the US market

At the seminar, the speakers gave a lot of attention to enterprises exporting their products to the US market. Photo T.D

That information was shared by the speakers at the seminar "Promoting Vietnam - US Trade, Vietnamese enterprises take advantage of golden cooperation opportunities after Covid-19" held on April 28, 2021 by the Investment and Trade Promotion Center of Ho Chi Minh City (ITPC).

Mr. Nguyen Huu Tin, Director of ITPC, said that currently, the US is Vietnam's largest export market. In 2020, despite being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the total import-export turnover between Vietnam and the US reached US$543.9 billion, up 5.1% over the same period last year. In which, the trade surplus was over US$19 billion - the highest level in five consecutive years of trade surplus since 2016.

In particular, in the first three months of 2021, the US became Vietnam's largest export market with a turnover of US$22.2 billion. Many items had turnover from US$1 billion or more such as furniture, textiles, shoes, computers, electronic components.

Evaluating the prospects of cooperation between Vietnam and the US after Covid-19, Mr. Alexander Tatsis, Economic Counselor, Consulate-General of the US in Ho Chi Minh City, said that the high proportion of Vietnam's goods export turnover to the US market in 2020 shows that US consumers are tending to shift imports from traditional supply countries to other emerging countries, including Vietnam.

Besides, the demand for quality products from Vietnam in the US market is increasing. The current US government is particularly concerned with climate change. Accordingly, Vietnamese products with a production model aimed at fewer emissions and less environmental impact will be a great advantage when exporting.

Currently, the US has high demand for Vietnamese products such as powderless medical gloves, furniture, high-tech products for information technology, AI communications, agriculture, aquaculture.

However, according to Mr. Ken D. Duong, CEO of TDL International Law Firm, in the future, Vietnamese enterprises need to focus on sustainable products and supply chains to seize opportunities to promote competitiveness in the US market. In particular, it is necessary to pay attention to brand protection, intellectual property, and avoid brand disputes such as in the case of ST25 Rice.

In addition, according to Ms. Nguyen Ba Thien Thu, chief representative of Registrar Corp, to export food to the US, enterprises are required to have certifications in accordance with the rules of the FDA (US government's food and drug administration), at the same time comply with the new labeling regulations and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) of the FDA.