The U.S. remains Vietnam’s largest export market, and shipments to the country continued to surge in November, rising 22.5% year-on-year—well ahead of the 15.1% growth in exports to global markets. The strong performance pushed the January–November surplus with the United States far beyond the full-year 2024 figure of $104.5 billion, based on traditionally conservative Vietnamese statistics.
Hanoi is still negotiating a new trade agreement with Washington, but so far has largely absorbed the Trump administration’s 20% tariff imposed on Vietnamese goods in an effort to reduce the widening trade imbalance.
Despite the robust annual gains, short-term figures showed signs of cooling. November exports declined 7.1% from October to around $39 billion, with shipments to the United States falling 7.3% following a 2.2% drop the previous month. It marked the fourth consecutive month of month-on-month declines in exports to the U.S.
Vietnam’s trade surplus with the United States also narrowed in November to $10.6 billion, down from $11.8 billion in October. The slowdown underscored the country’s heavy reliance on U.S. demand: its overall trade surplus fell to $1.09 billion in November, less than half the $2.6 billion recorded in October.
Authorities noted both opportunities and challenges. Last month, officials said they aimed to finalize a trade deal with the United States soon, after both sides announced in October that they had reached a framework agreement.
Deficit With China Widens
Vietnam’s broader trade picture reflected both strength and vulnerability. For the January–November period, the country registered a total trade surplus of $20.53 billion—buoyed by strong balances with the United States, European Union and Japan. However, these gains were partly offset by deepening deficits with China and South Korea.
The trade deficit with China alone rose 38.1% year-on-year to $104.3 billion.
Finance Minister Nguyen Van Thang said on Saturday that foreign investment inflows reached $23.6 billion in the first 11 months, up 8.9% from last year, with investment pledges increasing 7.4%. He cautioned, however, that the economy faces rising headwinds from U.S. tariffs and recent severe flooding.
Meanwhile, consumer prices in November climbed 3.58% year-on-year, and industrial production expanded by 10.8%, according to the statistics agency.