The U.S. commerce deficit with Vietnam surpassed $110 billion within the first 11 months of 2024, in line with the most recent U.S. knowledge, pushed by rising exports from the Southeast Asian industrial hub amid a historic depreciation of its forex in opposition to the greenback.
The newest studying, launched on Tuesday by the U.S. statistics company, confirmed an almost 18% rise within the deficit in contrast with the identical interval the earlier yr. The knowledge confirms the Communist-run nation has the fourth highest business surplus with the United States, topped solely by China, the European Union and Mexico.
The giant hole is seen by analysts as a serious threat for the export-reliant nation amid threats from President-elect Donald Trump to impose tariffs of as much as 20% on all U.S. imports.
That threat has been compounded by a pointy fall of Vietnam’s dong in latest months, with the dong buying and selling close to its lowest-ever ranges in opposition to the greenback. The pattern is intently watched in Washington as Vietnam is likely one of the nations underneath scrutiny for potential forex manipulation.
Vietnam, which counts the U.S. as its largest market, is house to massive export-focused industrial operations of U.S. multinationals resembling Apple, Google, Nike and Intel.
Latest seasonally adjusted commerce figures present that within the January-November interval, Vietnam collected a business surplus with the U.S. of $111.6 billion, up from $94.8 billion in the identical interval in 2023. Unadjusted knowledge pointed to a bigger hole of $113.1 billion.
In November, the commerce hole expanded by one other $11.3 billion, accelerating from October, as Vietnam’s exports to the U.S. rose, the adjusted knowledge present, probably supported by the weak dong.
“If the U.S. perceives that Vietnam is deliberately keeping the dong weak to gain an unfair trade advantage, it could trigger renewed accusations of currency manipulation,” mentioned Leif Schneider, head of worldwide legislation agency Luther in Vietnam.
Trump ended his first time period within the White House with Treasury declarations of Vietnam and Switzerland as forex manipulators over their market interventions to weaken the worth of their currencies.
Vietnam’s central financial institution has mentioned it was able to intervene within the international alternate market in case of hostile financial impacts from forex strikes, and has offered {dollars} prior to now to strengthen the dong.
On Tuesday, earlier than new commerce figures have been launched, the financial institution mentioned it will monitor Trump’s insurance policies and modify accordingly.
The dong’s most up-to-date depreciation in opposition to the greenback is broadly consistent with different main currencies.
Source: www.dailysabah.com