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In the first nine months of 2020, Vietnam's total exports of timber and forest products amounted to about $8.97 billion, up 12 percent year-on-year. the total exports of timber and forest products exceeded $1 billion for the first time in August. Among them, cabinets and bathroom cabinets accounted for most of the export share, with the main export market being the United States with a 90 percent export share.
According to Vietnamese media reports, in the first seven months of this year, cabinet growth is very strong, almost 100%, the total exports of cabinets and bathroom cabinets in Binh Dinh Province, Vietnam, more than 100 million U.S. dollars. While outdoor furniture is just over 230 million U.S. dollars.
The Vietnam Wood and Forest Products Association posted on its official website that cabinets, bathroom cabinets and other home furnishings are the basis for the next development of Vietnam's wood industry. At the same time, the association said it might set up a cabinet, bathroom cabinet and decorative panel branch as a way to expand the comprehensive competitiveness of enterprises invested by Vietnamese locals. Meanwhile, as Binh Dinh province has the potential to cultivate a cabinet production area with an average enterprise value of US$1~2 million as a way to cultivate Vietnamese local enterprises to capture the $7 billion cabinet market in the US.
In addition, Vietnam's Chinese-owned enterprises (including Taiwan) are an overwhelming force compared to the local native-born enterprises. According to the Vietnam Wood and Forest Products Association, about 60 Chinese cabinet enterprises in the U.S.-China trade war in the form of FDI semi-transferred to Southeast Asia, the total annual exports reached 6 billion yuan. 29 cabinet manufacturing enterprises were distributed in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, 25 distributed in Vietnam, including 15 fairly large enterprises distributed in Ho Chi Minh City, Tan Binh County.
However, Vietnam's wood industry has faced the stick of U.S. trade sanctions
According to Xinhua, an independent editorial writer, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced on the evening of Oct. 2 that it has launched a "301 investigation" into Vietnam's timber and exchange rate-related policies. The move could escalate U.S.-Vietnam economic and trade friction and lead to the imposition of punitive tariffs on U.S. imports from Vietnam.
The statement noted that the U.S. Trade Representative will investigate Vietnam's acts, policies and practices related to the importation or use of "illegally harvested or illegally traded" timber, as well as acts, policies and practices that could lead to the devaluation of Vietnam's currency and harm to U.S. commerce. These investigations will be conducted under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974, while the U.S. Trade Representative will consult with the U.S. Treasury Department on currency valuation and exchange rate policies.
Also said that Trump is firmly committed to combating "unfair trade" practices that hurt U.S. workers, businesses and farmers and ranchers; the use of illegal wood made into wood products for export to the U.S. market undermines the business environment and is "unfair" to U.S. workers and businesses that follow the rules and use legally harvested wood. Fairness". In addition, the "unfair" exchange rate hurts U.S. workers and businesses competing with Vietnamese products because Vietnamese products may be "artificially priced lower" due to the undervaluation of the exchange rate. He said the United States will carefully review the findings and then decide whether to take appropriate measures in response.
According to the Vietnam General Department of Forestry, Vietnam's exports of wood and forest products are expected to exceed $12.5 billion in 2020, up 18 percent year-on-year. The main export markets for Vietnamese timber enterprises are the US, Japan, China, the EU and South Korea.
