Vietnam-EU Trade Expand 14% in 10 Months
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| Garments and textiles are among many items exported to the EU with big revenues. Photo: Nhan dan |
Of which, exports hit $39.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 23.5%, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) said, as cited by VienamPlus.
The EU is currently Vietnam's leading trade partner and third largest export market with an annual export growth rate of 7.5%, accounting for 13.6% of the Southeast Asian country’s total export turnover in 2015-2021 period.
The market share of Vietnamese goods in the EU' total imports is 1.8%, higher than that of other Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia (1.2%), Thailand (0.9%), Indonesia (0.7%) and Singapore (0.7%).
The EU-Vietnam bilateral trade turnover was $56.45 billion in 2019 (including Vietnam’s exports and imports of $41.5 billion and 14.95 billion, respectively). However, in 2020, COVID-19 affected their trade ties, with trade reduced to $50 billion (including Vietnam’s exports and imports of $35.1 billion and 14.9 billion, respectively).
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| The trade turnover between Vietnam and the European Union (EU) reached USD52.5 billion in the first ten months of this year. Photo: VNA |
The situation got brighter in 2021, when the bilateral trade turnover reached $63.6 billion, with Vietnam’s exports worth $45.8 billion – up 14.2% year-on-year, and the country’s imports were valued at $17.9 billion, up 16.5% year-on-year, according to Nhan dan (People) newspaper.
Notably, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in 2021, Vietnam’s exports to the EU using the certificate of origin under the EUR.1 form stood at $7.8 billion, meaning many businesses in Vietnam took advantage of tariff cuts and reductions within the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) which became valid on August 1, 2020.
According to the Centre for WTO and International Trade under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), in the first two years of EVFTA implementation, Vietnam’s export turnover from the 27 EU member states averaged at $41.7 billion a year, which is 24% higher than the average figure of $33.5 billion in the 2016-2019 period. This means that many exporters in Vietnam have been capitalising on tariff reductions from the EVFTA./.
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| Workers at Thuan An Wood Processing Joint Stock Company in Binh Duong province. Photo: VNA |
| The EVFTA will remove tariffs on a range of key EU export products: • Almost all machinery and appliances will be fully tariff-free at entry into force, and the rest after seven years. Current duties are 35%. • Motorcycles with engines larger than 150cc will see tariffs fully removed after seven years (current duty is 75%) and cars after 10 years (down from 78%) • Car parts will be duty free after seven years (current duties are 32%). • Roughly half of EU pharmaceuticals exports will be duty free at entry into force and the rest after seven years (currently facing duties of 8%). • All textile fabric exports will see their duties removed at entry into force (currently with a tariff of 12%). • Nearly 70% of EU chemicals exports will be duty free at entry into force (current duties up to 5%) and the rest after three, five or, respectively, seven years (current tariffs of 25%). • Wines and spirits will be fully tariff-free after seven years (down from tariffs of 50 and 48% respectively) • Frozen pork meat will be duty free after seven years, beef after three years, dairy products after a maximum of five years and food preparations after a maximum of seven years. • Tariffs on chicken will be progressively reduced to 0% in the next 10 years. • For sensitive agricultural products, the EU will not open its market up to Vietnamese imports completely. Quotas will limit the quantity that can enter the EU duty-free. This includes rice, sweet corn, garlic, mushrooms, eggs, sugar and high-sugar-containing products, manioc starch, other modified starches, ethanol, surimi and canned tuna. |
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