The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has announced preliminary anti-dumping duties on imported coated steel from various countries, including Vietnam, with rates ranging from 39.84 percent to 88.12 percent for the Southeast Asian nation.

Michael Kokalari, Chief Economist at VinaCapital, described the April 2 announcement of ‘reciprocal tariffs’ as “completely unexpected”. “Based on our analysis, these tariffs will make it difficult for Vietnam to achieve its 8% GDP growth target,” he said.

Vietnam’s garment and textile industry enterprises are voicing growing concern over a newly announced 46 per cent US tariff, stressing that the industry plays a complementary–not competitive–role in the US market.

In Tien Giang Province, where durian is a key export, stakeholders are calling for urgent solutions to ensure the sector can adapt and remain competitive.

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Sweden, which is also in charge of Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Latvia, in the context of the US imposing reciprocal tariffs on imports from many countries, Vietnam should expand its exploitation of the Northern European agricultural, forestry and fishery market.

The April 3 announcement that the Trump administration will impose 46 per cent “reciprocal tariffs” on Vietnam from April 9 was completely unexpected. Michael Kokalari, chief economist from VinaCapital, analyses the impact and potential solutions Vietnam should take.

Vietnam's total export turnover reached 405.5 billion USD in 2024. According to calculations by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, to achieve the target of 12% export growth in 2025, the country must reach an export turnover of 454 billion USD. This is a highly challenging goal, as it requires an average monthly export turnover of approximately 38 billion USD.

Industry insiders pointed to stable raw material prices and a strategic shift towards higher-value processed products as key factors underpinning the strong performance of the two top earners -shrimp and tra fish.