Vietnam to take UK’s place in the U.S’s Top Trading Partners

For more than 20 years, the top seven U.S. trading partners in goods have remained the same: Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, Germany, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. But with the U.K.’s share slipping to 2.6 percent in the first 10 months of 2022 and Vietnam’s share rising to 2.7 percent, seventh place could now belong to Vietnam.

The United States and Vietnam established diplomatic relations in 1995, and since then, trade between the two countries has grown significantly. This growth has been facilitated by a number of factors, including the signing of trade agreements, including the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement in 2001 and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which aims to promote economic development and increase trade between the two countries. Vietnam is now the 10th largest trading partner of the United States, with two-way trade totaling over $120 billion in 2021.

The United States imports a variety of goods from Vietnam, including textiles, clothing, footwear, furniture, and electronics. It also exports a range of products to Vietnam, including machinery, aircraft, and agricultural products.

Meanwhile, between the pandemic and Brexit, the U.K. economy has been through a tumultuous few years and the outlook for 2023 doesn’t look to improve any time soon.

Source: Bloomberg