Vietnam saw a 49% decrease in exports of tuna to the US in the first seven months of the year, with just USD 171 million worth earned.
According to VASEP, Vietnam achieved just over USD 171 million from exporting tuna to the US market, down 49% from the same period last year. Such a slump was just temporary but a downward trend because the US has always been the biggest importer of Vietnamese tuna.
Vietnam saw an increase by 2.5 times in tuna exports to the US, with a record high USD 487 million worth in 2022, after 10 years the two countries established the comprehensive partnership.
A consecutive increase in sales of Vietnamese tuna was recorded in the US from 2017 to 2019. In 2019 alone, tuna exports to this country skyrocketed by 38% because the US-China trade war made the US importing companies shift to Vietnam. That gave Vietnam more shares in the tuna market in the US.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 resulted in the slump in sales of Vietnamese tuna. However, after the pandemic, the allegedly strongest recovery of the US economy of all the western countries helped Vietnam set a record high in tuna exports in 2022.
However in 2023, global difficulties such as the inflation, decline in exporting prices, and high inventories have slowed down tuna shipping into the US.
Currently, the US is the world’s second largest importer of tuna, after Japan. Tuna is the third most widely consumed seafood in the US.
VFM
