Vietnamese wooden furniture dominates in the United States

The United States is the second-largest importer of wooden furniture in the world, following the EU. In 2023, due to the impact of inflation and economic difficulties, as well as reduced consumer spending, the U.S. imported wooden furniture worth $ 19.8 billion, a decrease of 21.7% compared to 2022.

After a significant decline in 2023, U.S. imports of wooden furniture are now growing again. According to the United States International Trade Commission (USITC), in the first two months of 2024, the U.S. imported $ 3.5 billion worth of wooden furniture, an increase of 6.4% compared to the same period in 2023.

The substantial increase in the value of U.S. wooden furniture imports in the first two months of this year is attributed to the improving U.S. economic situation, significantly decreasing inventory levels, and signs of recovering consumer spending.

Notably, U.S. importers highly value and recognize Vietnam as a key global supplier of wooden furniture. Therefore, Vietnam plays the most critical role in the resurgence of U.S. wooden furniture imports.

In the first two months of the year, U.S. imports of wooden furniture from Vietnam reached $ 1.4 billion, a 16.9% increase compared to the same period in 2023. Among the top 10 suppliers of wooden furniture to the U.S., Vietnam had the highest growth rate. Besides Vietnam, only four other markets saw positive growth, while the remaining five experienced negative growth.

With such growth, Vietnam continues to be the largest supplier of wooden furniture to the U.S., accounting for 40.8% of the total U.S. wooden furniture imports in the first two months of the year (compared to a 37.1% share in the first two months of 2023).

In the first two months of 2024, the U.S. increased its imports of most wooden furniture items, except for kitchen and office furniture. Notably, the main categories of wooden furniture that the U.S. is trending towards increasing imports of are those in which Vietnam excels, such as wooden frame chairs, living room and dining room furniture...

Among the products, wooden frame chairs are currently Vietnam's largest furniture export item. In the first three months of 2024, the export value of wooden frame chairs reached $765.3 million, a 28.9% increase compared to the same period in 2023, accounting for 21.6% of the total export value of wood and wood products. The United States is the largest market for Vietnamese wooden frame chairs, with exports reaching $595.2 million in the first quarter, up 28.8% compared to the same period in 2023, and accounting for 77.8% of the total export value of this item.

However, according to some experts and traders in the wood industry, despite the strong recovery in wood and wood product exports to the United States, it is crucial to closely monitor the developments in this market.

Nguyen Liem, Chairman of the Binh Duong Wood Processing Association (BIFA), noted that there are still many factors affecting consumption in the U.S. market, such as the current inflation rate, which remains higher than the 2% target set by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed). Additionally, U.S. mortgage rates have risen significantly, reaching over 7%. These factors will impact the U.S. real estate market, thereby affecting the demand for wooden furniture. Moreover, the American public is in a state of anticipation regarding the upcoming presidential election, leading to cautious spending.

Furthermore, according to the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), Vietnamese wooden furniture exports are increasingly facing more trade defence investigations and measures from the U.S. market. Additionally, the U.S. is considering issuing numerous changes in trade defence investigations, which are becoming increasingly stringent for businesses and may lead to higher tariffs in the future.

Do Ngoc Hung, Commercial Counselor of Vietnam in the United States, stated that the U.S. Department of Commerce is amending regulations regarding trade defence. Accordingly, there will be several adjustments related to investigation procedures, anti-dumping, and countervailing duties, including new methods of determining countervailing duty rates and introducing the concept of special markets in anti-dumping investigations. These are issues that exporting businesses to the United States need to be particularly aware of in the coming period.

For Vietnam's wood industry, the United States remains the most important export market. According to the General Department of Customs, in the first four months of this year, exports of wood and wood products to the United States reached $2.7 billion, a 32% increase compared to the same period last year. The United States accounted for 54.3% of the total export value of Vietnam's wood and wood products in the first four months of the year. This market share far exceeds that of other markets such as China (13.6%), Japan (11.1%), and South Korea (5.1%).