Vietnam–U.S. trade agreement reached; Vietnam's textile and apparel trade performance in June

On July 2, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that effective July 9, a 20% tariff would be imposed on all goods exported from Vietnam to the U.S., replacing the previously planned 46% rate proposed in April. Furthermore, third-country goods transshipped through Vietnam will face tariffs as high as 40%. In contrast, all U.S. exports to Vietnam will enjoy zero-tariff treatment, effectively fully opening the Vietnamese market to American goods.

As the Southeast Asian country most affected by the retaliatory tariffs, Vietnam has reached an agreement with the U.S. after three months of intense negotiations. Let us now review Vietnam's latest textile and apparel trade performance.

Recent data show that Vietnam's textile and apparel exports in June 2025 performed fairly well, with both month-on-month and year-on-year growth, while most other product categories experienced declines in both imports and exports, especially a sharp drop in greige fabric imports. For the cumulative period from January to June, cotton imports saw the strongest year-on-year growth, while yarn exports performed relatively weakly.

Vietnam's textile and apparel export value in June totaled USD 3.597 billion, up 13.9% year-on-year and 9.5% month-on-month, reaching the higher end of historical single-month values.

The top export markets in June 2025 were United States (49.2%), Japan (10.8%) and South Korea (4.8%). Combined share of these top three markets reached 64.7%. Compared to the previous month, South Korea's share surpassed the Netherlands to return to third place. The U.S. market share increased by 0.9%, while the Netherlands' declined by 0.8%.

Year-on-year, the U.S., Japan, and the U.K. gained share, while others, especially South Korea, dropped-by as much as 1.1 percentage points.

Vietnam's textile and apparel exports to both China and the U.S. continued to grow year-on-year and month-on-month in June, the growth clearly slowed compared to May.

Vietnam exported 154,600 tons of yarn in June-around the average level for this month over the past three years, ranking on the higher side of historical monthly export volumes.

Top yarn export markets in June 2025 were China (53.4%), United States (10.0%) and South Korea (7.1%). Compared to June 2024, China's share declined by 0.9%, and South Korea's by 2.7%, while the U.S. and Japan saw increases of 3.8% and 0.6%, respectively.

Vietnam imported 159,000 tons of cotton in June 2025, marking a year-on-year increase of 81.5%, though down 2.7% from May. Cotton imports remained at a high level.

Main sources of Vietnam's cotton imports in June 2025 were United States (69.9%), Brazil (21.1%), Australia (4.3%) and India (3.3%). Compared to last year, imports of U.S. cotton rose significantly by 46 percentage points, while Brazil's share dropped by 25.6 percentage points.

Conclusion

Vietnam's textile and apparel trade in June was mixed. While garment exports remained strong, other product categories showed weaker performance, particularly grey fabric imports. However, cotton imports continued at a high level, and 2025 may see a record high in cotton import volume. Given the newly announced Vietnam–U.S. tariff policy changes, the United States holds a crucial role in both Vietnam's apparel export market and its cotton sourcing. With the reduced tariffs on Vietnamese exports to the U.S., the new agreement is expected to support Vietnam's textile and apparel exports moving forward.