Vietnam replaces UK as US' 7th biggest trading partner

By Dat Nguyen December 20, 2022 | 04:32 pm PT

Cat Lai Terminal in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Nguyen

Vietnam replaced the U.K. as the U.S.' seventh-largest trading partner over the first 10 months of this year.

Vietnam's share of the U.S. merchandise trade rose to 2.7% during the period, while U.K. goods dropped to a 2.6% share in the category, according to U.S. Census Bureau data as cited by Bloomberg.

In full-year numbers going back almost 20 years, the top seven U.S. partners in goods trade have consistently been Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, Germany, South Korea and the U.K., though their positions within the group have shifted around.

Vietnam didn't appear in the bureau's top-15 list until 2019, and it has climbed ever since, ending last year at No. 10.

If Vietnam’s lead over the U.K. holds for the final two months of 2022, it'll be the first time that a majority of the top seven are Asian economies.

Vietnam official data shows that the U.S. was its biggest export market in the first 11 months at $101.5 billion, up 18% year-on-year, followed by China at nearly $53 billion.