China certainly plays a little larger role in some of these places. According to one significant research, direct Chinese exports from third countries are higher in corporate sectors. Asian solar panels last year faced heavy import taxes because they had too much Chinese content. Given that China controls the world’s solar panels provide bars, that judgment is probably correct. And if we only consider the boost in Vietnam’s exports to America since 2018 as opposed to the overall figure, the estimated reveal that reflects direct Chinese information grows by about 40 %.
Chinese investment in production is also being made in Vietnam. announced opportunities in 2023 totaled nearly US$ 12 billion. However, this dropped again to US$ 3 billion in 2024. In addition, funding from other countries has increased by about US$ 10 billion yearly, with South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan all making an average US$ 7 billion investment in recent years. Therefore, the trade picture appears to be similar to the investment picture, suggesting that future Asian exports will be heavily influenced by Chinese companies but also by even more from partners, particularly advanced Asia.
What can be the verdict? China has undoubtedly contributed significantly to Vietnam’s skyrocketing export to the United States. However, China is not the principal theme. The more significant role is being played by Vietnam itself and another supply chain partners. Additionally, Vietnam can slowly reduce its reliance on foreign inputs, including those from China, using the appropriate policies to leverage this and growing expense inflows to move up the price chain.
In other words, Vietnam is assisting in the growth of US supply stores away from China. The question is whether the Trump administration sees benefit in this or whether it is only interested in returning production to America.