Vietnam posts $114 billion first-half trade surplus with US, ahead of China

PCE price index rose 0.2% in July, core annual rate at 3.3%

Vietnam recorded a $114 billion trade surplus with the United States in the first half of 2026, federal data show, ahead of Taiwan, Mexico and China. U.S. imports from Vietnam climbed 40% from a year earlier to $123 billion, while imports from China fell 23% to $129 billion in the same period.

The figures sit alongside a tariff gap between the two countries. The effective U.S. tariff rate on Chinese imports stood at 23.2% in June, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model — well above the global 7% average. The effective rate on Vietnamese imports was 6.5% in the same month. Trump has said his aim with the tariffs was to revive U.S. manufacturing.

Vietnam is not the leading exporter of goods to the United States, but it imports far fewer American goods than Mexico, Canada, Taiwan and China. The president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam told The Wall Street Journal that while illegal transshipment of Chinese goods exists, it is not the main driver of the jump in exports to the U.S.

Michigan auto-parts maker Leggera Technologies CEO Thomas Kowal told The Wall Street Journal that proposed tariffs could benefit his own company. But Kowal said his greater concern was the broader manufacturing industry.

“My greater concern is the broader manufacturing industry. I worry about how much additional pressure the industry can absorb,” Kowal said.

In separate economic data, the Commerce Department reported that the personal-consumption expenditures price index — the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of monthly price increases — rose 0.2% in July, reversing a 0.1% decrease in June. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core PCE rose 0.2%. Over the past year, the PCE index is up 3.7%, with the core 12-month rate at 3.3%.

July’s consumer price index report, published earlier in August, showed prices down slightly from their June reading, lifting some immediate pressure off the central bank to raise interest rates at its September meeting, the Journal’s Jessica Coacci reported. The report also showed consumer spending rose 0.2% from the month before — higher than economists had expected.

In other logistics data, intermodal containers and trailers carried on U.S. railroads in the week ended Aug. 22 rose 5% from a year earlier, according to the Association of American Railroads.