Vietnam’s textile and garment exports to the US in January to September were up 13.6 per cent year-on-year. The country exported nearly 17 billion dollars worth of apparel in the first nine months of this year, with the US market accounting for almost half of it.
The US market was followed by Japan and South Korea. Japan’s apparel imports from Vietnam were up six per cent year-on-year and South Korea’s imports were up 0.6 per cent.
Vietnam’s apparel makers expect their exports to increase when free trade agreements, especially the Trans-Pacific Partnership, come into force. Vietnam’s apparel is currently subject to 17 to 30 per cent US tariffs but the rates will be gradually brought down to zero in the TPP.
Vietnam’s apparel exports to the US have inched up 12 to 13 per cent annually in recent years while US imports from other markets have risen by only three per cent on an average. Vietnam makes up just nine per cent of America’s total apparel imports, so there is room for Vietnamese apparel firms to boost shipments.
Foreign firms make up around 25 per cent of Vietnam’s 3,000 textile and garment enterprises but contribute over 60 per cent of the country’s apparel export turnover.
