Vietnam’s trade surplus to the U.S. had President Trump originally proposing reciprocal tariffs of 46%. However, the two countries are inching close to a trade deal that could open the door to more U.S. exports.
South Dakota farmers were recently on a trade mission to Vietnam and saw first hand the country’s growing need for protein and the opportunity to grow exports.
Vietnam’s population of 102 million people includes a young and growing middle class. The average consumer is 30 years old. While the median income per person is low, it’s improving, and so is their diet.
Rice and soy foods are a big part of the Vietnam culture. A quarter of the soybeans imported are food grade used by companies such as Ichiban, a leading producer of tofu and soy milk. Ichiban uses 100% U.S. soybeans.
Vietnam consumers are also adding more animal protein to their diet, according to Mike McCranie, vice chair of the U.S. Soybean Export Council.
“Vietnam is one of those countries that actually has a lot of pork already in their diet —they really like their pork,” he says.
Vietnam is a leading pork producer with 27.5 million hogs in 2024, an 85% recovery from pre-African Swine Fever levels, after a shift to integrated production.
“Approximately 80% of farms are integrated and 20% are backyard farms.” says Thibaut Vitre, industrial operations director of feed and pet food company Vienovo Vietnam.
Vietnam also raises 550 million chickens, 18 billion eggs and 84 million ducks annually, but they also import poultry.
“The U.S. is No. 1 market share for poultry imported to Vietnam at a value of $181 million U.S. dollars,” says Dang Thi Dong Phuong, with the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council.
The country is also home to 60 million beef cattle and is the world’s 4th largest seafood producer and exporter.
“We export to around 170 countries,” says To Thi Tuong Lan, deputy general secretary, Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers. “The value in total seafood from Vietnam is around $10 billion U.S. dollars per year.”
The U.S. accounts for 20% of Vietnam’s seafood exports with shrimp holding the top spot.
“Shrimp is about 40%, 45% based on different years,” says Ha Tran Ngoc, sourcing manager, BioMar Viet Uc. “For example, in 2022, it was about $4.5 billion.
That’s followed by catfish, at a $2 billion export value annually.
About a third of the seafood is still wild caught with the balance raised on farms such as Co May, which uses U.S. soy in their feed ration because it’s a cheaper and more sustainable protein.
“Fish meal is very expensive in formulation, so people prefer to use more soybean meal,” Ha Tran Ngoc says.
Soybean meal has become a total replacement of fish meal in a lot of cases, McCranie adds, and it responds as good as, and in some cases better than, their other diets.
This all adds up to a growing feed market of 25 million metric tons annually. However, the soy processing industry is small with only four plants that import 2 million tons of soybeans annually, some of which is from the U.S.
“The capacity of this plant is 500 tons per day on a soybean seed-crushing basis,” says Hemant Bansal, general director of soy processor Sethia Hemraj. “So far, whatever beans we’ve procured, they’re 100% from U.S.”
With limited crushing capacity, Vietnam currently depends on soybean meal imports for their growing protein sector.
“On average, every year Vietnam imports about 5.7 to 5.9 million metric tons of soybean meal from all origins,” says My Hanh Tran, Vietnam country representative with the U.S. Soybean Export Council.
But currently, the U.S. only has 16% share of that market.
“There’s a lot of potential for growth in Vietnam, and we’re trying to get into their market with with some high-quality soybean meal and also soybeans.” says David Struck, a farmer from Wolsey, S.D.
The drive to grow meal exports is a result of the 30% expansion of the soy processing industry in the Midwest to crush for oil for biofuels.
“We’re crushing for the oil now in the United States so the meal supply is going to get larger,” Struck says.
U.S. soybean meal exports are on the rise. This year exports are projected at nearly 16 million metric tons, but volume could double quickly, according to Scott Ritzman, Ritzman Consulting.
“If all the crushed plants that were announced actually come to fruition, we might be at a 22 to 23 million metric ton market,” he says.
The farmer delegation told Vietnam buyers the meal surplus will drive U.S. prices down compared with South America. The other selling points of U.S. meal include lower freight cost, consistency, sustainability and nutritional value.
There is room to grow and that’s why U.S and South Dakota farmers want to build strong relationships with their customers through trade missions.
“I think it’s great for us as producers and board members to go out and shake those people’s hands and say thank you and let’s grow together because when they make money, we make money,” says Derrick Scott, a Geddes, S.D., farmer.
