The US-Vietnam bilateral trade reached a record in 2010 with a value of nearly 18.3 billion USD, or 19 percent more than 2009.
The figure included over 14.78 billion USD worth in the US ’s imports from Vietnam which reflected a 20 percent rise over 2009, according to data released by the US Department of Commerce.
The majority of the US ’s import value continuously went to Vietnam ’s apparel and clothing accessories (5.76 billion USD), furniture (1.82 billion USD) and footwear (1.62 billion USD).
The country, in the year, imported 646.4 million USD worth of Vietnam ’s fish and aquatic invertebrates, posting a year-on-year surge of 23.8 percent and its purchase of machinery and mechanical appliances and parts expanded by 53 percent to hit 621 million USD.
In the US ’s exports of over 3.5 billion USD to Vietnam , there was a rise of 29 percent in machinery and mechanical appliances and parts, and surges of 207 percent in oil seed and natural honey and 159 percent in raw hides and leather.
However, the US saw a decrease of 31.5 percent in its sales of vehicles to the Southeast Asian country, from 441.7 million USD in 2009 to 302.3 million USD in 2010.
According to the US International Trade Commission, Vietnam ranked 27 th among the US ’s 221 export partners./.