Đỗ Ngọc Hưng (R), Counselor and Head of the Việt Nam Commercial Office in the US, during an interview with Việt Nam News Agency resident correspondent in Washington DC. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Trade between Việt Nam and the US will flourish in the second half of this year, said the Counselor and Head of the Việt Nam Commercial Office in the US.

"The trade relationship between Việt Nam and the US is improving after hitting the US$100 billion export milestone for the first time in 2022, especially after the end of the investigation into the illegal trade in timber and wood products, as well as after the US took Việt Nam off the monitoring list for currency manipulation," said Đỗ Ngọc Hưng, Counselor and Head of the Việt Nam Commercial Office in the US, during an interview with Việt Nam News Agency resident correspondent in Washington DC.

Hưng attributed the improvement in trade between the two countries to the thorough direction of Vietnamese agencies such as the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the State Bank of Việt Nam, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, as well as the co-ordination of the Vietnamese Embassy in the US.

Counselor Đỗ Ngọc Hưng said the situation in H2 would have certain advantages compared to the first six months after evaluating the business potential in the last six months.

In terms of growth and consumer demand, he said the US economy had begun to show signs of recovery. The US government and industries continued to pay attention to Việt Nam and pledged to strengthen business collaboration.

A strong rebound had also prompted major US retail chains to resume placing orders with Việt Nam, he said.

“The US is a massive market with 330 million people, with more than 2.1 million Vietnamese Americans. The Vietnamese community in the US is continuously looking to their homeland and desires to use Vietnamese goods. This is regarded as a great potential for Vietnamese exports. The network of thousands of foreign businesses is a potential distribution channel for Vietnamese products to penetrate deeper into the US market,” he said.

In the coming months, the Việt Nam Trade Office in the US would collaborate with Vietnamese representative agencies in the US to promote trade policy research in order to provide timely information and support to businesses, Hưng said.

The office would also emphasise promoting trade opportunities and Vietnamese goods, thus expanding the market's potential, particularly in places like California, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Texas, and others with significant Asian-American populations who were well-off, he said.

Two-way trade turnover exceeded US$46.5 billion from January 1 to May 2023, according to US Department of Commerce data. The US remains Việt Nam's top export market, while Việt Nam is the US' seventh largest trading partner. Notably, the US bought $43.5 billion from Việt Nam and exported approximately $3 billion.

In the ASEAN bloc, Việt Nam accounts for approximately 35 per cent of total export turnover. Thailand is placed second, with an export revenue of roughly US$20 billion.

The trade deficit between the US and Việt Nam in the first five months of this year totalled more than $40 billion, accounting for 9 per cent of the US trade deficit. Việt Nam's trade surplus with the US currently ranks third, just after China and Mexico, according to Hưng.

The reason was largely due to the complementary nature between the two economies, along with the export and their foreign trade structure, he said.

Vietnamese goods supplied to the US competed primarily with third countries rather than directly with domestic firms, Hưng remarked.

The availability of Vietnamese goods in the US gave US consumers a chance to use goods with various designs and more affordable pricing, he said.