The Ultimate Treasure Hunt: America’s $2 Billion Quest for Zero-Tariff Treasures from Vietnam, Its Premier Trading Partner

According to preliminary statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, timber and wooden product exports in April reached $1.4 billion, a slight decrease from the previous month. In the first four months of 2025, timber and wooden product exports surpassed $5.38 billion, a 9.7% increase compared to the same period in 2024.

The United States is Vietnam’s largest export market, accounting for nearly 54% of the total export turnover of these items, with over $2.9 billion, a 10.3% increase compared to the previous year. In April alone, Vietnam earned $798 million from exports to the US market.

Exports of timber and wooden products to the US market have grown rapidly and strongly in the past 20 years, making Vietnam one of the largest suppliers of timber and wooden products to the US. In 2024, the US spent $8.8 billion (the highest ever) on importing timber and wooden products from Vietnam, a 24% increase compared to 2023.

Furniture items account for 90% of the total export turnover of timber and wooden products to the US market, with the remaining being groups of other timber and raw material products. Notable among these are chairs, wooden furniture, kitchen furniture, bedroom furniture, and office furniture.

Japan and China are the second and third largest export markets, respectively.

Earlier in April, President Donald Trump announced a series of tariff measures against countries around the world. However, in Appendix II of the executive order on adjusting imports with retaliatory tariffs, certain goods are exempt from retaliatory tariffs: All other products listed in Appendix II of this order, including copper, pharmaceuticals, wooden furniture, sawnwood, semiconductors, certain critical minerals, energy, and energy products not available in the United States.

Thus, wooden furniture and sawnwood from all countries, including Vietnam, will not be subject to US retaliatory import tariffs. Previously, wooden furniture products from Vietnam exported to the US enjoyed a 0% tax rate.

In addition, the 90-day postponement of retaliatory tariffs by the Trump administration will help exporting enterprises find reasonable response measures.

On the other hand, according to Decree No. 73/2025/ND-CP amending the import tax rates of goods originating from the US into Vietnam, the following groups of goods will have their import tax rates reduced from 20% and 25% to 0%: Wooden products (including clothes hangers, thread spools, yarn bobbins, and similar products, wooden matchsticks…); groups of seats and parts thereof; wooden furniture. This is considered a contribution to the sustainable development of Vietnam-US trade relations and helps the wood industry avoid higher taxes.

The Vietnamese agricultural sector aims to achieve a timber and wooden product export turnover of $18 billion in 2025, with the US remaining as the main market, and $25 billion by 2030. Especially, by 2030, 100% of the forest area will be certified for sustainable forest management, and 20% of the natural forest area will be upgraded in quality.