Vietnam buys $3bln farm products from U.S. amid Trump’s warning over trade gap

During a recent visit to U.S., Vietnamese enterprises signed 18 memorandums of understanding with American producers in Nebraska to buy farm products in the next two to three years.

The deals include purchases of 100,000 cows, more than 9 million tons of cereals, Vietnam Television cited information from the event.

“We don’t see competitiveness between farm produces of Vietnam and U.S. There is much room to increase purchases from America,” said Le Quoc Doanh, deputy minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.”

Vietnam needs a huge amount of raw materials to produce animal feed. By 2030, the country needs 40 million tons, much higher than 24 million tons last year.

Vietnam reported a trade surplus of more than $11 billion last year, widening from a surplus of $6.8 billion in 2018, according to the Customs Department.

With U.S, Vietnam’s largest export market, the Southeast Asia country recorded a trade surplus of nearly $47 billion in 2019, widening from $34.8 billion a year earlier, customs data says, while the U.S. Census Bureau reports a $55.8 billion trade deficit with Vietnam for 2019 and $39.5 billion for 2018, Bloomberg reported.

Vietnam, which was said to have won the U.S. – China trade war, received warnings from President Donald Trump and  U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer over the trade deficit.  

Last year, Lighthizer urged Vietnam to take steps to reduce its trade surplus with the United States and open its market to more U.S. goods and services.

► Vietnam becomes the 9th largest fresh fruit importer of U.S.

Source: VTV