The Pressure Of Vietnam's Dual Export To The US Market

It is inevitable that exports of seafood and staple goods to the United States will decline in the face of rising prices and falling spending. Not to mention the US Federal Reserve's recent move to raise interest rates to their highest level in more than 15 years amounts to a "double whammy" of pressure on Vietnamese exporters to adapt.

According to the Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers' (Vasep) website on May 8, the situation for tuna exports to the U.S. market remains unfavorable. Right now, all Vietnamese tuna exports to the United States are down year on year. Compared with the same period last year, the average export price of these products is down 20 percent.

Consumption decreases, leading to "deep"

The reason suggests that high inflation in the United States has affected consumption in the first quarter of 2023 due to high inventories. Tuna exports to the United States, for example, fell 53 percent in the first quarter of 2023, to just 64 million fish. The dollar. The number of Vietnamese companies involved in exporting tuna to the U.S. market also dropped to 36.

Apart from tuna exports, from the perspective of basah fish exporters, Ms. Tran Thi Van Loan, chairperson of the board of Directors of Cuu Long An Giang Seafood Company, complained that although she has been the top 2 import markets for Vietnamese Basah fish, However, the U.S. is still involved in an anti-dumping lawsuit with Basa fish, so only a few companies can export to the market, which is also a disadvantage for Vietnamese Basa fish.

According to Ms Loan, by 2023, basa fish will have been subject to anti-dumping duties in the US for 20 years, as the US has not yet recognised Vietnam as a market economy.

In addition to these problems, declining exports of Vietnamese Marine products to the US are also a cause for concern. In April 2023, seafood exports to the United States continued their steep decline of 51 percent, dropping the United States to third place behind Japan and China as a seafood import market. In the first four months of 2023, seafood exports to the United States were estimated at $418 million, down more than 57 percent from a year earlier.

Analysts at Wasssup said the US market was increasingly Mired in rising food prices and falling consumption. With food prices so high, American families are tired.

"Now that Americans have considered cutting back on low-value items, they are buying fewer discretionary items, buying bulk and unbranded products, and focusing on staples. Some people even buy less and eat less. Consumers want to spend only on items they really need, "said Vasep analysts.