Vietnam produces world's largest trade surplus with US, Jan data shows

HANOI, March 13 (Reuters) - Vietnam produced the largest trade surplus with the United States in January, overtaking both Mexico and China, latest official U.S. data shows, as its exports rose sharply while Chinese direct shipments to the United States fell.

Hanoi has been negotiating a trade deal with Washington for months but no agreement has been reached because of the large trade gap and disagreements over tariff rates the U.S. wants to impose on Vietnamese goods, officials have said.

• In January, Vietnam's trade surplus with the United States reached $19 billion, according to U.S. official data released on Thursday. It was the biggest dollar surplus for all trading partners, followed by Taiwan, Mexico and China.

• Hanoi's exports to the U.S. rose 53% to exceed $20 billion in January from a year earlier, the data shows, while U.S. imports from China in the same period dropped by 46%.

• Vietnam's trade surplus with the U.S. has surpassed China's since the second quarter of 2025 and was second only to Mexico in the last three quarters. It reached $178 billion for all of 2025.

• Vietnam's exports to the United States have been rising steadily as higher tariffs on Chinese goods discouraged Beijing's exports. At the same time Vietnam's imports of Chinese goods, largely for re-export, reached record levels in January, according to Vietnamese data.

• The Trump administration has repeatedly accused Vietnam of being a waypoint for Chinese goods directed to the United States, which face lower duties when carrying a "Made in Vietnam" label.

• Illegally transshipped goods are subject to U.S. tariffs of 40%, but the White House has not yet indicated its criteria to determine what can be considered as an illegal transshipment.

• It has however launched this week new investigations on Vietnam and other countries over possible unfair trade practices.

• Washington imposed 20% tariffs on Vietnamese goods in August. After the Supreme Court struck down Trump's global tariffs as illegal in February, the White House imposed a 10% global tariff for 150 days.