HANOI (Reuters) -Vietnam’s exports fell in October from a month earlier, with shipments to the United States also dropping as it adapts to U.S. tariffs, official data showed on Thursday.
Shipments were down 1.5% compared to September, while imports dropped 1% on the month, the government’s National Statistics Office said in a report.
Exports to the United States fell on a monthly basis to $13.4 billion, from $13.7 billion in September, according to the report.
Total exports in October were still 17.5% higher than a year earlier, reaching a value of $42.05 billion, while imports over the month rose 16.8% on an annual basis to $39.45 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $2.6 billion for the month, the data showed.
The data came nearly three months after the United States, Vietnam’s largest export market, imposed a 20% tariff on imports from Vietnam. The U.S. last month said duties on certain products could be lifted as part of negotiations on a trade agreement.
Industrial production in October rose 10.8% from a year earlier and was up 2.4% from September, while consumer prices were 3.25% higher year on year, the NSO said.
Retail sales in October rose 7.2% from a year earlier, it added.
For the first 10 months of this year, exports rose 16.2% from a year earlier to $391.0 billion, while imports were up 18.6%, at $371.4 billion, translating into a trade surplus of $19.6 billion, the NSO said.
Foreign investment inflows into Vietnam in the January-October period rose 8.8% from a year earlier to $21.3 billion, the data showed.
Foreign investment pledges in the period were also up 15.6% to $31.5 billion.
(Reporting by Khanh Vu, Phuong Nguyen and Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Martin Petty and David Stanway )
