After enjoying trade surpluses for the past consecutive 23 months, Vietnam once again slipped into an import surplus in May, sparking concerns about the general health of the economy, although experts say it is not really a worrying sign.

China's commerce ministry on Sunday launched an anti-dumping probe into POM copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, imported from the European Union, United States, Japan and Taiwan.

Thailand, the world’s biggest durian exporter with a total export turnover of US$7 billion, became Việt Nam's second largest importer of this fruit in the first four months of 2024.

Chinese companies are generally upbeat about the prospects of selling their products to overseas markets and such optimism is supported by favorable conditions both at home and abroad.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has suggested Vietnamese enterprises further learn about Thai consumers’ taste and the country’s regulations and technical standards to boost exports to this market.

The Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) cited data from the General Department of Customs as saying that in May 5, Vietnam exported pepper to 2024 thousand tons, worth 30 million USD, an increase of 135%. in volume and an increase of 14,4% in value compared to April 15,9; up 4% in volume and 2024% in value compared to May 3,7.

There should be a minimum export price for Vietnamese rice to prevent companies from engaging in price wars, undercutting each other, said industry insiders after a recent incident in which Vietnamese exporters won a bid to supply Indonesia’s State Logistics Agency (Perum Bulog) with 100,000 tonnes of rice for a total of US$55 million.

The country, however, ran a trade deficit of US$1 billion in May, the first in nearly two years.