Vietnam News Roundup: February 6 to February 13

In case you missed it…

Buy More, Sell Less: Tackling Vietnam’s Trade Surplus with the US

Vietnam has been repeatedly singled out by US officials with respect to its trade surplus with the United States. This hasn’t, so far, seen any Vietnam-specific trade implications (i.e. tariffs) from the current US administration, but it is increasingly looking like it is only a matter of time. With this in mind, this article looks at how Vietnam might address the trade imbalance by buying more US goods and/or reducing its exports to the US. Read More »

Automotive news

Car sales fall 42 percent January over December: VAMA

The January sales report of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association–the VAMA–has found that vehicle sales of the group’s members fell more than 42 percent in January compared to December. The fall was in passenger vehicles, trucks, and hybrids. Sales of buses and special-purpose vehicles recorded 12.69 percent and 12.22 percent growth, respectively.

See also: Vietnam Car Sales Tracker: January Update [data] 

Banking and finance News

State Bank continues open market operations

The State Bank of Vietnam has continued to carry out open market operations. Specifically, there were US$6.15 billion worth of reverse repos outstanding as of the close of business February 13 and US$991.5 billion in treasury bills outstanding.

Of note, this has been accompanied by a big drop in the value of the dong–since Monday, February 3, the first working day after the Lunar New Year break, the local currency has fallen 1.01 percent against the greenback per the State Bank’s central exchange rate.

See also:  The Vietnamese Dong’s Wild Ride: Unpacked

Corruption news

US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act hiatus Vietnam implications

US President Donald Trump has put a freeze on prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act–the FCPA–for 180 days. This looks to be the first step in a broader plan to relax enforcement of the law.

Of note, there have been several instances of firms operating in Vietnam being fined under the FCPA. Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company Novartis AG was fined US$345 million for making ‘improper payments’; Sweden’s Ericsson was paid out over US$1 billion in 2019 for creating an ‘off-the-books slush fund’ used to make payments that would not ‘pass Ericsson’s due diligence processes’; and Germany’s Siemens was fined US$450 million in 2008 for bribing government officials in Vietnam along with a number of other countries.

Of interest, there is a broad range of criteria that can see non-US firms prosecuted under the FCPA. These include using the US financial system to pay a bribe, using US telecommunications networks to discuss engaging in corrupt practices, or being listed on a US stock exchange.

See also: Corruption in Vietnam

Economy news

Vietnam set to officially target GDP growth in 2025 of 8 percent

Vietnam is set to officially raise its GDP growth target to 8 percent by 2025, according to Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung and reported by Quan Khu Bon. If achieved, this would be a significant jump from the 7.09 percent real GDP growth achieved in 2024.

To achieve this goal, the government wants to see the industrial and construction sector expand by 9.5 percent, the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector to grow by 3.9 percent, and the services sector to grow by 8.1 percent. In 2024, these three sectors achieved real growth of 8.24 percent, 3.27 percent, and 7.38 percent, respectively.

It’s not clear how this target might be achieved. However, private borrowing has been touted as a pivotal component.

See also: It’s Time to Talk About Vietnam’s Credit Growth Policy…

Manufacturing news

Shein encourages suppliers to move production to Vietnam

Chinese fast fashion firm Shein is encouraging suppliers to move production to Vietnam in order to avoid US tariffs on Chinese imports, Bloomberg has reported. Diversification is being pursued in order to circumvent recently announced US tariffs.

Of note, tariffs introduced during the last Trump presidency are often cited as a key reason a number of multinationals began diversifying their supply chains into Vietnam. There has been some speculation that this might happen again, and these reports re: Shein would seem to reflect that.

That said, Vietnam’s trade surplus with the US has increased considerably since Trump finished his first term. According to US Census data, in 2020, the year Trump left office, Vietnam’s surplus was sitting at US$69.7 billion. By 2024, however, that number had blown out to US$123.5 billion.

With this in mind, Vietnam may also be risking tariffs in the US, and there is a good chance that moving production south may only be a temporary fix.

See also: Manufacturing in Vietnam

Trump steel tariffs cause stir but outcome could be positive

US President Donald Trump has announced there will be a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminium entering the United States. There will reportedly be ‘no exceptions’.

The US is Vietnam’s biggest export market for steel and steel products. Last year, it exported US$13.68 billion worth of iron and steel and products thereof. 

Of note, most Vietnamese steel and steel products are already tariffed 25 percent per tariffs introduced during Trump’s first presidency, so there should be no change in that respect. Aluminium, however, only currently has a tariff of 10 percent, so this will see an extra 15 percent applied, VN Express is reporting.

Dan Tri is also carrying comments from Do Ngoc Hung, Head of the Vietnam Trade Office in the US, in which he says even if more steel products do come under the 25 percent tariff, it’s unlikely to have a big impact with the US unlikely to be able to meet the surge in demand. Hung also notes that if the 15 percent tariff is applied to other key steel exporters, this will actually make Vietnamese steel more competitive.

Notably, Vietnam’s steel industry has not had an easy ride of late. Cheap imported steel has been coming across the border from China, which local producers have been arguing is creating challenging business conditions. Moreover, there have been a number of antidumping investigations launched against Vietnamese steel producers in several key export markets.

See also: Can Vietnam Survive the Steel-Trade Wars?

Stock market news

Foreign traders net-sell US$109 million of HoSE stocks

Over the last five trading sessions to the close of business on February 6, foreign investors net-sold US$108.97 million worth of HCMC Stock Exchange stocks. This brings the total net-sold since the start of the year to US$486.6 million or US$4.04 billion since January 1, 2024.

See also: Vietnam’s Foreign Investor Stock Sell-Off: Unpacked

Foreign trader activity, last five trading days

VND = billions; US$ = millions; source: Vietnam Stock Market Tracker

Trade news

Vietnam January imports recorded at US$30 billion

Vietnam’s imports fell to US$30 billion in January, a 14.1 percent fall compared to December. However, this can largely be explained by the Lunar New Year holiday which saw most factories and businesses shut down for the last week of January.

See also: Vietnam Imports Tracker: January Update [data set] 

Vietnam January exports reach US$33.2 billion

Vietnam’s exports fell to US$33.2 billion in January, down from US$35.6 billion in December. This represents a fall of 6.6 percent, however, it should be noted that the last week of January saw most businesses in Vietnam closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

See also: Vietnam Exports Tracker: January Update [data set] 

The week ahead

There are a handful of events coming up this week. For more information, see the: Doing Business in Vietnam: Events Directory 2025 

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