Vegetables and fruits are among the top export products.

Set export record
Figures from the General Department of Customs and the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) show that Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports have made a dramatic change when they continuously set records and surpassed the milestone of more than 2.7 billion USD in exports after 8 months of 2018. Compared to rice, fruit and vegetable exports have exceeded 500 million USD compared to rice exports since the beginning of the year.

With a growth rate of over 14%, the export value of fruits and vegetables is forecast to reach over 4 billion USD by the end of the year. If achieved, this will be the second consecutive year that fruit and vegetable exports bring in more USD than Vietnam's rice exports. In addition to the strong increase in exports, fruit and vegetable imports into Vietnam also increased quite high, reaching 1.15 billion USD.

Statistics also show that, of the total 2.7 billion USD earned from fruit and vegetable exports, the export turnover to the Chinese market accounted for approximately 1.994 billion USD, an increase of 11.6% over the same period in 2017. Fruit and vegetable exports to China accounted for 74.1% of the total export turnover of fruit and vegetable products of Vietnamese enterprises. The export turnover to the US market ranked second with 87 million USD. The next major fruit and vegetable import markets of Vietnam include Thailand, Australia, etc.

Among the export items that bring in a lot of USD, we must mention lychee with 86,200 tons, earning 170.5 million USD from exports to China. Data from the International Trade Center (ITC) also shows that in recent months, Australia has imported a large volume of processed fruits and vegetables from Vietnam.
Although China continues to be Vietnam's number 1 fruit and vegetable import market and there is still much room for fruit and vegetable exports to other countries, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also recommends that in the coming time, businesses still need to continue to improve the quality of export goods to increase value.
Will face difficulties because of US-China trade war

Despite many advantages, according to the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), in the last months of the year, fruit and vegetable exports may face difficulties due to the impact of the rainy season, resulting in a decrease in the output of some types. Explaining the good growth in fruit and vegetable exports in recent times, according to the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development, the signing of many Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) has created conditions for the fruit and vegetable industry to open up new markets. However, in addition to the advantages, domestic enterprises also need to strengthen chain production linkage models to ensure the quality of fruit and vegetables for export.

Forecasting exports in the coming months, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that the escalating US-China trade war will have negative impacts on Vietnam's agricultural exports.
Specifically, with the US increasing import tariffs on Chinese exports, Chinese agricultural products will have to find alternative markets. At that time, it is likely that Chinese enterprises will change direction and put great competitive pressure on Vietnamese agricultural products. On the contrary, when China imposes an additional 25% tax on US agricultural exports such as fruits and livestock and poultry products, etc. to avoid this disadvantage, US agricultural products may change their export direction and seek to penetrate the Vietnamese market more.