Vietnamese cashews may benefit from the trade war between the US and China. (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The ongoing US-Chinatrade war will greatly impact on the structure of the world economy in thefuture, causing damage but also generating indirect opportunities for countrieswhere the economy relies heavily on agricultural production like Vietnam.
According to head of the Vietnam CashewAssociation’s Trade Promotion Division Tran Van Hiep, although it is stillquite early to assess the impact of the US-China trade war, it’s possible thatVietnamese cashews may benefit from this war.
Hiep said the US is now one of the world’sleading almond exporters. Therefore, if China imposed a tax on this product, itwould certainly affect US almond exports. Meanwhile, the almond is just one ofthe 12 nuts in the international dried fruit goods basket, and it can bereplaced with other nuts when prices are too high.
“This will be an opportunity for the Vietnamesecashew industry to promote export of cashew nuts to the Chinese market,” saidHiep.
“In the Vietnamese structure of cashew exports,the US is still the largest import market, accounting for 35 percent of marketshare. It’s followed by China with 10 percent market share,” he added.
Relating to the pig industry, Vice Chairman of theAnimal Husbandry Association of Vietnam Pham Duc Binh said that Vietnameseenterprises had promoted imports of pork due to the high price of pork in thecountry.
The price of dressed pork in Vietnam ranges from48,000-50,000 VND (2.07-2.16 USD) per kilo. Meanwhile, the price of slaughteredpork imported into the country is only 1.5 USD per kilo. At this price, foodprocessors are forced to increase the imports of pork to meet the productiondemand in the last months of the year.
“In that context, the US will be the market thatbusinesses are aiming for, in hopes of gaining a cheaper import price due tothe impact of the war. However, with the habit of preferring to consumeimported goods, in the long run the Vietnamese livestock will lose on thedomestic front,” said Binh.
Insiders said that both the US and China are twoimportant trading partners of Vietnam, so it is likely that this war would havea great impact on the economy of Vietnam.
Many issues may arise in the near future, suchas trade fraud and temporary imports for re-export. Therefore, it í necessaryto strengthen the management role of the State to help the economy growhealthily as well as to identify the risks and opportunities for the economy ofVietnam in the future, they noted.-VNS/VNA
VNA
