HANOI: In the first 5 months of 2016, Vietnam spent US$140 million for the import of Chinese pesticides, or nearly $1 million a day, according to statistics of the General Customs Administration. Specifically, in May alone, Vietnam paid $27 million to import materials and pesticides from China. This is one of Vietnam’s 10 top imports from China in May.
Vietnam is increasingly dependent on Chinese pesticides. In the list of pesticide exporters to Vietnam, China has always been the largest supplier, followed by India, Israel and Thailand … However, import turnover of pesticides from these markets is equivalent to just 1/3 of that from China.
According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, in the last three years, every year Vietnam spent at least half a billion dollars to import pesticides from China, specifically $411 million in 2014 and $376 million in 2015. An expert from the Vietnam Chemical Association said Chinese pesticides were very competitive in terms of prices and import procedures. Moreover, Chinese producers carefully learned about the Vietnamese market to offer suitable products.
Statistics from the General Administration of Customs also revealed that in the past five months, Vietnam spent US$18 billion for Chinese goods imported and earned only $12 billion from exports to China. Vietnam’s trade deficit with this market was up to $6 billion. Other major imports from China to Vietnam included machinery and spare parts with $3.3 billion, cell phones, accessories and household electrical products $4 billion, steel $1.6 billion, and clothing $2.1 billion.
