Strature BriefsCountry OutlookNo. 001Edition 1.0 (archive)30 Sep 2026
Country Outlook · Vietnam

Is exposure to Vietnam a demand exposure?

No. The more concentrated side is supply: China supplied 40.9 per cent of Vietnam's 2025 imports, against a 32.2 per cent US share of exports, for as long as assembly runs on imported components.

Archive edition. Researched 1 September 2026; harmonised to the current house standard 30 September 2026. Evidence to 30 September 2026; facts refreshed 30 September 2026.

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Live exhibits

The free exhibits, with their data.

Each exhibit is drawn from the edition’s own data, with its source and credit as printed. Its data can be downloaded as CSV.

Exhibit E1 · Country Outlook No. 001
Component supply rates high for three reader types, more than any other domain
Exposure by domain and reader type · the firm's judgement of exposure, not a likelihood · Strature, 30 Sep 2026 · denominator: 4 domains by 6 reader types

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

Exporters and tradersDirect investors and operatorsLenders, bondholders and insurersLong-horizon allocatorsGovernmentsPeople and labour
Market access at the outbound endHighHighMediumMediumMediumNot assessed
Component supply at the inbound endHighHighHighMediumLowNot assessed
Value retained at homeMediumMediumLowMediumLowNot assessed
Capital inflowsLowMediumMediumHighLowNot assessed
  • High
  • Medium
  • Low
  • Not assessed
SourceStrature judgement at harmonisation, 30 Sep 2026, from the measured findings of this outlook; one-line reason per cell in data/exposure_matrix.csv.LicenceStrature's own judgement; may be shown and downloaded on the site with credit to Strature.How to read this plateFirm's judgement; not a likelihood. People and labour: NOT ASSESSED (no labour series was measured).DataDownload the data (CSV)Strature

8 further exhibits stay in the full brief: their source licences do not allow redistribution.

Since publication

What has changed since the research, dated.

Registered forecasts are never changed: they stay as issued and are scored as registered. Facts found after the research date are listed here with their date and source.

No forecast is registered with this edition.

Facts since the research date

  1. 25 Mar 2026

    Issued before the research date but not read by the source, which used UN Comtrade to 2023: the NSO's preliminary 2025 tables put goods exports at US$475.1bn and imports at US$455.0bn; China supplied 40.9% of imports and the United States took 32.2% of exports.

    NSO, preliminary exports and imports of goods in 2025 (issued 25 Mar 2026), retrieved 30 Sep 2026

  2. 3 Sep 2026

    Goods trade ran a US$20.46bn deficit in January to August 2026, against a US$14.02bn surplus a year earlier; imports rose 35.3% and exports 22.4%. The computers-and-electronics group ran a US$60.6bn deficit.

    NSO, Report on socio-economic performance in August and 8 months of 2026 (issued 3 Sep 2026)

  3. 3 Sep 2026

    US imports from Vietnam were US$149.6bn in January to July 2026, and US exports to Vietnam US$10.8bn.

    US Census Bureau, Trade in Goods with Vietnam (July data, released 3 Sep 2026)

  4. 19 Sep 2026

    In January to August 2026 China supplied 41.0% of Vietnam's goods imports and the United States took 32.6% of its exports.

    NSO, preliminary exports and imports of goods in 2026 (issued 19 Sep 2026); shares computed by Strature

  5. 30 Sep 2026

    UN Comtrade still returned no 2024 or 2025 row for Vietnam as reporter; its 2023 row still returned. The chapter-level reading keeps its 2023 date.

    UN Comtrade public preview route, queried 30 Sep 2026

No new forecast is issued with these facts; a new view would be a new, separately dated forecast.

Strature GPS · Questions this brief answers

14 questions answered, each on the map.

Each answer is quoted verbatim from the brief, with the section that answers it and the countries it touches. Answers with a register ID are our estimates, scored when they resolve; the others are the brief’s reading of the evidence, not forecasts.

Countries in this brief, on Strature GPS

Answered in: At a glance (the answer)

GeoeconomicGeopolitical30 Sep 2026

Is exposure to Vietnam a demand exposure?

“No. The more concentrated side is supply: China supplied 40.9 per cent of Vietnam's 2025 imports, against a 32.2 per cent US share of exports, for as long as assembly runs on imported components.”

The brief’s reading of the evidence; not a registered forecast.

Primary Viet Nam Affected China, United States of America

Countries in this questionViet NamChinaUnited States of America

Answered in: 01. The largest customer and the largest supplier are different great powers

GeoeconomicGeopolitical30 Sep 2026

Are Vietnam's largest customer and largest supplier the same power?

“The United States took 32.2% of what Vietnam sold and supplied 4.2% of what it bought. China supplied 40.9% of what it bought and took 14.8% of what it sold.”

The brief’s reading of the evidence; not a registered forecast.

Primary Viet Nam Affected United States of America, China

Countries in this questionViet NamUnited States of AmericaChina

Answered in: 02. One tariff chapter was the largest line on both sides of the 2023 account

Geoeconomic30 Sep 2026

Which tariff chapter did Vietnam's 2023 trade account rest on?

“In 2023, HS chapter 85 (electrical machinery and equipment) was the largest chapter on both sides of the account, and no other chapter behaved that way.”

The brief’s reading of the evidence; not a registered forecast.

Primary Viet Nam

Answered in: 03. The supply side is the more concentrated side on every measure taken

Geoeconomic30 Sep 2026

Which side of Vietnam's trade is more concentrated?

“Counterparty concentration, measured as a Herfindahl index over countries, was higher on imports than on exports in 2023, and highest of all inside chapter 85's imports.”

The brief’s reading of the evidence; not a registered forecast.

Primary Viet Nam Affected China, Republic of Korea

Countries in this questionViet NamChinaRepublic of Korea

Answered in: 04. Trade was 190% of GDP in 2025, the most open of five economies compared

Geoeconomic30 Sep 2026

How open is Vietnam's economy to external shocks?

“Trade in goods and services was 190.3% of Vietnam's GDP in 2025, against 68.5% for the world aggregate, and exports of goods and services alone were 98.2% of GDP (World Bank, re-checked 30 Sep 2026).”

The brief’s reading of the evidence; not a registered forecast.

Primary Viet Nam

Answered in: 06. Four domains pass the significance test, and component supply rates highest

Geoeconomic30 Sep 2026

Which domains carry Vietnam's exposure?

“Four domains pass: two are core (market access at the outbound end, component supply at the inbound end) and two pass (value retained at home, capital inflows).”

The brief’s reading of the evidence; not a registered forecast.

Primary Viet Nam

GeoeconomicGeopolitical30 Sep 2026

Does access to Vietnam's largest buyer market hold at its 2025 weight?

“A change in the buyer market's trade rules acts on revenue. The United States took US$153.2bn of Vietnam's 2025 goods exports (NSO, preliminary).”

The brief’s reading of the evidence; not a registered forecast.

Primary Viet Nam Affected United States of America

Countries in this questionViet NamUnited States of America
GeoeconomicGeotechnology30 Sep 2026

Does Vietnam's inbound supply of components stay concentrated?

“An interruption in supply acts on the ability to produce, not only on revenue: where the outbound leg consists of assembling the inbound one, a supply shock stops output rather than scaling it.”

The brief’s reading of the evidence; not a registered forecast.

Primary Viet Nam Affected China, Republic of Korea

Countries in this questionViet NamChinaRepublic of Korea

Answered in: 08. The share of export value that stays in Vietnam is the lowest of six

GeoeconomicGeotechnology30 Sep 2026

How much of Vietnam's export value is produced in Vietnam?

“On the OECD's modelled estimate, 51.5% of the value in Vietnam's gross exports was produced in Vietnam in 2022, the smallest share of the six economies compared.”

The brief’s reading of the evidence; not a registered forecast.

Primary Viet Nam

Answered in: 09. The capital account did not turn in fourteen years of data

Geoeconomic30 Sep 2026

Has direct investment into Vietnam turned?

“Net foreign direct investment inflows were US$20.2bn in 2024, the largest of the fourteen years drawn, through a pandemic, a tariff dispute and a global rate cycle (World Bank, re-checked 30 Sep 2026; no 2025 value yet).”

The brief’s reading of the evidence; not a registered forecast.

Primary Viet Nam

Answered in: 10. The first hinge, the inbound share, moved further toward one supplier

GeoeconomicGeopolitical30 Sep 2026

Has Vietnam's reliance on one supplier grown?

“China supplied 40.9% of Vietnam's imports in the NSO's 2025 tables and 41.0% in January to August 2026.”

The brief’s reading of the evidence; not a registered forecast.

Primary Viet Nam Affected China

Countries in this questionViet NamChina

Answered in: 11. The second hinge, the thin difference, turned negative in 2026

Geoeconomic30 Sep 2026

What happened to Vietnam's trade balance after the research date?

“The NSO's report of 3 September 2026 records a goods deficit of US$20.46bn for January to August 2026, against a surplus of US$14.02bn a year earlier; imports rose 35.3% and exports 22.4%.”

The brief’s reading of the evidence; not a registered forecast.

Primary Viet Nam

Answered in: 12. Measurement is a third hinge: the two ends of the US corridor disagree

Geoeconomic30 Sep 2026

How far apart are the two ends of the Vietnam-US trade corridor?

“For 2025, Vietnam reports US$153.2bn of exports to the United States; the US Census Bureau reports US$193.9bn of imports from Vietnam.”

The brief’s reading of the evidence; not a registered forecast.

Primary Viet Nam Affected United States of America

Countries in this questionViet NamUnited States of America

Answered in: 18. Five tests, each checkable against a free public source, would show the call wrong

GeoeconomicGeopolitical30 Sep 2026

What would show the call on Vietnam wrong?

“The call would be wrong if, in Vietnam's own partner tables, the import side became the less concentrated side of the account, or if China's share of imports fell below the United States' share of exports.”

The brief’s reading of the evidence; not a registered forecast.

Primary Viet Nam Affected China, United States of America

Countries in this questionViet NamChinaUnited States of America
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