Vietnam's shipments from China, to US reach record high amid trade fraud crackdown

Francesco Guarascio and Khanh Vu

Wed, May 7, 2025, 12:53 AM 3 min read

By Francesco Guarascio and Khanh Vu

HANOI (Reuters) -Vietnam's imports from China and exports to the United States some reached a post-pandemic grounds successful April, amid talks with Washington to trim Hanoi's commercialized surplus and a crackdown connected Chinese goods being shipped to the U.S. via its territory.

The Southeast Asian federation faces the hazard of 46% duties connected its exports to the U.S. if the White House confirms this complaint astatine the extremity of a planetary tariff intermission successful July. This could undermine Vietnam's maturation exemplary and deed multinationals exporting from the country, including Samsung and Nike.

Hanoi has made aggregate offers to the Trump medication to debar precocious levies, including clamping down connected amerciable transshipment of Chinese goods to the U.S. via Vietnam. Goods payment from little tariffs if labelled arsenic 'Made successful Vietnam'.

However, commercialized trends that person attracted U.S. disapproval are accelerating, perchance complicating Vietnam's efforts to extract U.S. concessions successful ongoing commercialized talks.

The Trump medication wants to trim commercialized imbalances, but Vietnam's surplus with the United States - already 1 of the highest globally - expanded by astir 25% successful the 4 months to April twelvemonth connected year, according to Vietnam's statistic agency.

In March alone, it exceeded $13.5 billion, the highest monthly fig ever, U.S. information showed.

Manufacturers successful Vietnam are ramping up exports to the United States earlier a imaginable tariffs hike, aggregate manufacture executives said.

In April, shipments to the U.S. exceeded $12 billion, 34% higher than a twelvemonth earlier, and the largest worth recorded aft the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam's customs information showed.

Vietnam's Cai Mep deep-sea port, which handles astir of the country's sea-borne exports to the United States, is experiencing a surge successful shipments to the U.S., said Soren Pedersen, vice president astatine SSA Marine, which operates a larboard successful Cai Mep and is 1 of the world's largest larboard operators.

He told Reuters Cai Mep, which hosts each large shipping companies, including Maersk, MSC and COSCO, has 26 instrumentality ships booked for play departures to the U.S. successful May, "a grounds high" from an mean of 20-22.

"Most instrumentality terminals are present operating astatine oregon adjacent afloat capacity," helium said, noting that was successful anticipation of imaginable higher tariffs.

CHINA IMPORTS

At the aforesaid time, Vietnam is ramping up imports from China, which besides reached a post-pandemic grounds successful April, exceeding $15 billion, according to customs data.

Vietnam's exports to the U.S. successful caller years person been fuelled by imports from China, with inflows from Beijing intimately matching the worth and swings of exports to Washington.