US$4.5 bil quarterly trade surplus with US
(VOV) - Vietnam's trade surplus with the US in the first three months of the year widened to US$4.5 billion, according to the latest statistics from the Vietnam Customs office.
The total import-export volume between Vietnam and the US in the reviewed period climbed to US$7.76 billion, up 24.9% against the same period last year.
The country's US exports jumped up 25.6% to US$6.15 billion, while imports from the US market also rose 22.4% to US$1.61 billion.
The US remains Vietnam’s second largest trade partner, just after China. In 2013, Vietnam’s trade surplus with the US hit a record high of US$18.6 billion.
The garment and textile sector led in exports to the US market for the quarter, with sales of US$2.16 million, up 14.55% compared to the same period last year, comprising 35.2% of the total exports.
Footwear ranked second in exports to the market with sales of US$674.1 million (up 23.63%), followed by wood and wooden products at US$484.61 million (up 22.8%).
In the first quarter of the year, almost all of Vietnamese exports to the US posted strong growth. Notably, telephones and components saw a six fold increase against the comparable period last year.