The ongoing China-US trade war has been touted as having beneficial impacts for Vietnam, but this has not yet been the case, Siam Canadian CEO Jim Gulkin told Undercurrent News.

“It would help Vietnam, for sure, a 30% US tariff on Chinese imports would make imports from Vietnam — and elsewhere — more attractive,” he said.

“But it’s such an unpredictable scenario, nobody’s banking on it just yet,” he added.

It certainly hasn’t led to any Vietnamese companies investing, for instance in processing, with a view to replacing US demand for something like breaded shrimp, he said.

Le Van Quang, chairman of shrimp firm Minh Phu Seafood Corporation, agreed, saying there was no sign of clear opportunities for Vietnam yet.

However, he did say the “adverse impact so far is clear”: Chinese exporters have been selling to the US as fast as possible, to squeeze shipments in before tariffs are hiked.

“That uses up shipping containers, so we are seeing delays while we wait for the containers to then arrive in Vietnam for our shipments,” he told Undercurrent.