Apparel import of European Union (EU) from Vietnam shows upward trend in recent quarters as the bilateral trade boosted after the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). However, an analysis shows that EU’s apparel import from Vietnam could not breach the pre-FTA level. European Union and Vietnam signed FTA in mid-2019, and it came into effect from August 2020.
EU imported garments worth $1.202 billion from Vietnam in Q2 this year, compared to the import of $1.215 billion in Q1. In Q4 2021 European countries imported garments valued at $0.974 billion, which was lower than import of $1.090 billion in Q3 2021.
The trend of import figures suggest that the trade remained quite volatile. Last two quarters noted impressive growth from the preceding quarters. The import breached a mark of $1 billion in Q3 2020, immediately after the first wave of COVID-19. However, the import value dipped to $0.574 billion in Q2 from $0.948 billion in Q1 2020, which increased to $1.128 billion in Q3, only to decline to $1.234 billion Q4 2020. EU’s garment import from Vietnam was valued at $1.132 billion in Q2 2021, and $1.170 billion in Q1 2021.
Annual figures of EU import from Vietnam gives clearer picture. As per TexPro, imports were valued at $3.836 billion in 2021, $3.650 billion in 2020, $4.190 billion in 2019 and $4.081 billion in 2018. The annual figures suggest the bilateral trade could not breach even pre-FTA level. The FTA was signed on June 30, 2019 and was implemented from August 1, 2020. Therefore, the agreement came into effect immediately after the first global wave of COVID-19. The import had recorded steep fall in Q2, 2020 as economic activities halted due to the devastating pandemic.
