Wood industry seeks solutions to maintain US market

Reciprocal taxes will cause great difficulties for Vietnamese wood exports to the United States. However, wood industry enterprises are still making efforts to maintain this market.

Despite concerns about reciprocal taxes, Vietnam’s exports of wood and wood products to the United States are still growing. In April, wood and wood product exports to this market reached 799 million USD, up 4.1% over the same period in 2024. In the first 4 months of the year, wood and wood product exports to the United States reached 2.9 billion USD, up 10.3% over the same period in 2024.

Producing wooden products for export at a factory in Binh Duong. Photo: Son Trang.

The US market still accounts for more than half of the export turnover of wood and wood products, and the proportion is even slightly higher than the same period last year (54.4% compared to 54.1%). This data shows that wood industry enterprises are focusing on delivering goods to the United States during the time the Government of this country temporarily suspended the imposition of reciprocal taxes. At the same time, it also shows that Vietnam’s wood and wood product exports are still heavily dependent on the US market.

Since the United States accounts for more than half of Vietnam’s wood and wood products exports, shifting to other markets after the US government officially imposes reciprocal tariffs is not easy. Each market has its own tastes and needs for wooden furniture. Therefore, wooden furniture produced for sale to the United States may not be sold to other markets. The capacity of the US market is too large for other markets to compensate.

Therefore, at this time, wood industry enterprises are taking advantage of the opportunity to deliver goods to the United States while hoping that the official reciprocal tariffs will be at an acceptable level. Vietnamese wood and wood products account for nearly half of the US wood and wood product imports. Therefore, it is not easy for US wood furniture importers to find alternative sources of supply, especially when China – the second largest source of imported wood furniture to the US, is also subject to very high tariffs.

In addition, the Vietnamese wood industry is also prioritizing the import of raw wood from the United States. Mr. Ngo Sy Hoai, Vice President of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association, said that due to the tariff retaliation between China and the United States, it is currently very difficult to export raw wood from the United States to China because of the very high tax rate. Therefore, if Vietnam increases the import of round wood and sawn wood from the United States, it will both demonstrate Vietnam’s goodwill and reduce the disparity in wood trade between the two countries.

Vietnam’s wood industry is prioritizing the import of raw wood from the United States. Photo: Son Trang.

Using raw wood imported from the United States to produce wooden furniture for export to the United States will also help wood industry enterprises reduce the pressure of reciprocal taxes when exporting to this market. Because according to Mr. Do Ngoc Hung, Vietnam Trade Counselor in the United States, Vietnamese goods exported to the United States, if it can be proven that the origin of raw materials or other factors is from the United States from 20% or more, will only be subject to reciprocal taxes on the value not originating from the United States.

Raw wood import data is clear evidence of the priority of the Vietnamese wood industry for raw wood from the United States. According to the Customs Department, in the first 3 months of 2025, raw wood imports from the United States reached 191 thousand m3, worth nearly 79 million USD, up 34.1% in volume and 28.1% in value compared to the same period in 2024.

In addition, identifying the United States as the leading important market, many wood industry enterprises are determined to maintain their presence in this market, even after being subject to reciprocal taxes.

A solution that many wood industry enterprises are aiming for to maintain sales to the US market is to develop the form of B2C sales (retail businesses directly to consumers). To sell directly to US consumers, wood industry enterprises are using e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Wayfair, etc.

Mr. Huynh Le Dai Thang, Director of Nghia Son Wood Production and Trading Company Limited, said that the company has been selling B2C for more than 3 years. Up to now, Nghia Son has achieved initial results when B2C sales account for about 10% of the company’s total export sales.

Ms. Luu Thi Hue, Senior Account Manager of Amazon Global Selling Vietnam, shared that furniture sales on Amazon are very large. In the whole year of 2024, the Vietnamese wood industry exported more than 16.2 billion USD. Meanwhile, in just 2 days of Prime Day 2024 (Amazon’s big shopping event taking place in July every year), the total sales value of wooden products on Amazon reached about 14.2 billion USD.

However, Ms. Hue noted that to sell B2C on Amazon, wood industry businesses must be carefully prepared in terms of financial capacity, competitiveness, human resources… and especially must have a long-term vision for the retail strategy to direct consumers abroad.

Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/nganh-go-tim-giai-phap-duy-tri-thi-truong-hoa-ky-d755945.html