Trade promotion briefing session with the Vietnamese Trade Office system abroad in May 2023.

On May 31, 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Trade held a "Conference on trade promotion with Vietnam's Trade Office system abroad in May 2023," with the theme "Trade promotion of litchi and longan".

At the conference, Do Ngoc Hung, commercial counselor at, Vietnam Trade Office in the US said, with 331 million people, the US is a key market for agricultural products and foods, including fruits and fresh vegetables.

In 2022, the United States imported vegetables and fruits with a record level of over US$31 billion, of which US$19.3 billion of fresh and frozen fruits (equivalent to 23.5 million tons), increased by 10% compared to 2021, mainly from Canada, Mexico, some Central and South American countries.

Some of the top fresh fruits imported into the US include avocados, bananas, grapes, and lemons.

For lychees, to meet the growing demand, the United States imported lychees from China, Vietnam, India, and Thailand. Luc Ngan lychees, Bac Giang are always well received and appreciated by US consumers for their quality.

Hung assessed that in the coming time, the US market still has a lot of room for Vietnamese fruit to expand and develop.

The United States is a huge fruit consumption market with diverse needs, increasingly focusing on vegetables, and organic foods that are good for health.

"The main customer group today is the Asian community and especially the growing Vietnamese community, concentrated in big cities and towns in the US," Hung said.

Obstacles when exporting agricultural products to the US

However, according to Hung, Vietnam's main competitors are China and Mexico, which have rich experience, extensive distribution systems, competitive prices, and low shipping costs.

Access to the US market for Vietnamese agricultural products in general and lychees particularly still faces some obstacles.

Firstly, the geographical distance is too far, with a long transportation time, leading to perishable fruits and loss during transportation.

“The cost of transportation by air is too high, many times higher than the cost of the product.

In 2021, although there is a direct flight to the United States and a memorandum of understanding between Bac Giang province and the airline on preferential tariff policies, in fact, transportation costs are still high," Hung said.

Photo: vietnaminsider

Second, there is no US standard irradiation facility located in the North. For export, fruits must be transported to Ho Chi Minh City for irradiation, increasing costs and loss in quantity and quality of exported lychees.

Third, the process from harvesting, transporting to consumers in the United States is still long. The packaging and preservation process has not met the standards, leading to the lychee being easily damaged and discolored when it reaches the supermarket shelves.

Maximize the role of Vietnamese Trade Offices abroad

According to Tran Van Hao, director of Hai Duong Department of Industry and Trade, it is not too difficult to meet the price and product quality requirements for the US market. However, difficulties in transportation (high air freight costs, cumbersome procedures, lychees exported to the US must be irradiated), making it difficult for businesses to access this market.

Therefore, the Hai Duong Department of Industry and Trade requested the Trade Promotion Agency and the Vietnam Trade Office in the US to continue to support information on the market, food safety and hygiene and technical barriers.

The Department wanted them to support the province in promoting lychee consumption on e-commerce platforms, deeply participating in supply chains in the region and the world.

Vu Ba Phu, director general of the Trade Promotion Agency said that promoting the consumption of agricultural products, especially seasonal agricultural products, has always been one of the priorities of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

With the principle of supporting as soon as possible, catching up with the seasons, the Ministry of Industry and Trade focused on implementing trade promotion activities to boost consumption of agricultural products through a variety of traditional and modern distribution channels at home and abroad.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is always looking for ways to maximize the role of the system of Vietnamese Trade Offices in foreign countries - a direct, unified and fastest information exchange channel in researching and evaluating the market, new mechanisms and policies on economy, trade and investment of the host country.

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