HANOI- Vietnam posted a rare monthly trade deficit in February as imports surged during the month, government data showed on Thursday, though the country’s surplus with the United States increased in the opening months of 2025.
The Southeast Asian nation, a regional manufacturing hub, is heavily dependent on export-driven economic growth and faces risks from global trade disputes, including the potential imposition of tariffs by the United States.
Vietnam posted a trade deficit of $1.55 billion in February, after a $3.02 billion surplus in January, the General Statistics Office said. It was only the third monthly deficit since the start of 2023, as per GSO and London Stock Exchange Group data.
February’s exports rose by 25.7 percent from a year earlier while imports surged by 40 percent, primarily due to increased imports of dairy products, automobiles and metal products, the GSO said.
Over the January-February period, the GSO said there was a trade surplus of $1.47 billion, aligning with figures published by the government on its portal the previous day.
Combining data for the two months can smooth out distortions from the timing of Lunar New Year holidays, which fell in January this year and February last year.
The GSO data showed that for the January-February period, exports rose by an annual 8.4 percent and imports were up by 15.9 percent.
In the first two months of 2025, Vietnam’s trade surplus with the US reached $17 billion, up 16.3 percent from a year earlier, while its deficit with China widened by 36.9 percent to $15.4 billion.
Vietnam is worried about being hit with reciprocal tariffs by the US government. The US is Vietnam’s largest export market, while China is its biggest source of imports.
Vietnam has long been suspected of being a transshipment hub for Chinese goods to the US given the huge volumes of intermediate goods it imports from China.
