Vietnam’s exports to the United States fell 2% from July to August to $13.94 billion, according to Vietnamese customs data on Tuesday, as a tariff of 20% on shipments to the US took effect. Imports from China also fell 2% in August from July, the Customs Department said. The Trump administration has repeatedly accused Vietnam of being used as a transshipment hub for Chinese goods directed to the United States.
For the first eight months of 2025, Vietnam’s shipments to the United States rose 26.4% from a year earlier to $99.05 billion, the report showed, providing a breakdown of trade with individual countries after aggregate figures were released on the weekend.
The United States, Vietnam’s biggest market, imposed the 20% tariff from August 7, while transshipments from third countries through Vietnam face a levy of 40%.
US tariffs worsen petrochemical sector challenges, executives warn
Reuters reports:
US tariffs are increasingly pressuring the already challenged petrochemicals sector, with China, the top producer, shifting its exports to Asia, industry executives said at a conference in Singapore on Tuesday.
The disruption could lead to a 15% drop in the global petrochemical trade, a TotalEnergies executive told the APPEC conference.
“If tariffs remain in place, petrochemicals trading will see another 15% drop on top of the 34% drop it has seen in the last five years,” TotalEnergies’ head of petrochemical trading, Ganesh Gopalakrishnan, told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference.
