According to newly released data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, export turnover reached 169 billion USD by 30/4. Of this, the value of taxable exported goods was 61 billion USD, a 24,3% increase compared to the first four months of last year. Consequently, the customs sector collected over 166,300 billion VND in state budget revenue, reaching approximately 37% of the annual target and increasing by 16,5%.
Conversely, imported goods amounted to 176,6 billion USD. Total import and export turnover after four months reached nearly 346 billion USD, a 24,7% rise over the same period in 2025.
The Customs agency reported that imported raw materials, machinery, equipment, and components for production, such as chemicals, plastics, iron and steel, electronic components, and oto parts, were valued at 30,8 billion USD. This group accounted for over 50% of the value of taxable imported products, contributing approximately 14,000 billion VND to the budget.
Additionally, oto imports reached 72,665 units, valued at approximately 1,8 billion USD. While the volume of imported vehicles in the first four months increased by nearly 12%, their value rose by 26,8%, adding 2,210 billion VND to the state budget.
Other imported items also significantly boosted budget revenue, including: gemstones and precious metals (an increase of 2,725 billion VND), and other petroleum products (an increase of 1,448 billion VND).
Despite positive results recently, the Customs sector anticipates facing numerous challenges to meet its full-year budget revenue target of 516,500 billion VND.
According to the agency, crude oil import volume in april decreased by 7,7% compared to the previous month and by 23,2% compared to the same period in 2025. This resulted in an estimated revenue shortfall of approximately 1,030 billion VND for the state budget. Simultaneously, the reduction of taxes on gasoline, oil, and jet fuel to 0% is estimated to cause a revenue deficit of 8,600 to 11,000 billion VND during the march-june 2026 period.
Beyond energy variables, new trade defense barriers also exert pressure on revenue streams, including an increased tax on hot-rolled coil (HRC) steel imported from China, now at 27,83%.
The General Department of Vietnam Customs believes that high tariffs are likely to reduce the import volume of this item in the near future. Furthermore, reciprocal tax policies from the US also threaten to decrease export turnover and indirectly reduce demand for imported raw materials for production.
To achieve its budget revenue target by year-end, the Customs sector will focus on reviewing tax debts and implementing enforcement measures for recovery. This initiative is expected to optimize revenue sources and ensure strict implementation of fiscal policies.
Anh Tu
