US trade deficit with Vietnam soars beyond $110 billion, as weak dong boosts exports

HANOI: The US trade deficit with Vietnam exceeded $110 billion in the first 11 months of 2024, latest US figures show, as exports from the Southeast Asian industrial hub grew amid a record fall of its currency against the dollar.

The latest reading, released on Tuesday by the US statistics agency, showed a nearly 18% rise in the deficit compared with the same period the previous year.

The data confirms the Communist-run country has the fourth highest commercial surplus with the United States, topped only by China, the European Union and Mexico.

The large gap is seen by analysts as a major risk for the export-reliant nation amid threats from President-elect Donald Trump to impose tariffs of up to 20% on all US imports.

That risk has been compounded by a sharp fall of Vietnam’s dong in recent months, with the dong trading near its lowest ever levels against the dollar.

The trend is closely watched in Washington as Vietnam is one of the countries under scrutiny for potential currency manipulation.

Vietnam, which counts the US as its biggest market, is home to big export-focussed industrial operations of US multinationals such as Apple, Google, Nike and Intel.

Latest seasonally adjusted trade figures show that in the January-November period Vietnam accumulated a commercial surplus with the US of $111.6 billion, up from $94.8 billion in the same period in 2023.

Unadjusted data pointed to a larger gap of $113.1 billion. In November, the trade gap expanded by another $11.3 billion, accelerating from October, as Vietnam’s exports to the US rose, the adjusted data show, possibly supported by the weak dong.

“If the US perceives that Vietnam is deliberately keeping the dong weak to gain an unfair trade advantage, it could trigger renewed accusations of currency manipulation,” said Leif Schneider, head of international law firm Luther in Vietnam.

Trump ended his first term in the White House with Treasury declarations of Vietnam and Switzerland as currency manipulators over their market interventions to weaken the value of their currencies.

US trade deficit widens on imports jump

Vietnam’s central bank has said it was ready to intervene in the foreign exchange market in case of adverse economic impacts from currency moves, and has sold dollars in the past to strengthen the dong.

On Tuesday, before new trade figures were released, the bank said it would monitor Trump’s policies and adjust accordingly.

The dong’s most recent depreciation against the dollar is broadly in line with other major currencies.