Vietnam-Argentina Trade: Vast Potential Beyond Declining Figures

Bilateral Trade Drops Yet Holds Vast Potential According to the latest data from Argentina’s National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC), Argentina’s total global import and export turnover in June 2026 reached 15.916 billion USD, marking a 16.4% increase compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, bilateral trade between Vietnam and Argentina in the first six months reached only 2.27 billion USD, up by a modest 1.91%. This discrepancy shows that the growth rate of Vietnam-Argentina trade remains significantly lower than Argentina’s overall trade expansion pace. This performance reflects the combined impact of multiple factors, including Argentina’s adjustments to its trade policy, cuts to import tariffs on certain tech goods, and changes in market demand structures that have shifted competitive advantages across product categories. Domestic purchasing power has not fully recovered; coupled with tightening fiscal policies and cautious spending psychology following a period of high inflation, Argentine consumers continue to cut back on non-essential expenses. Beyond policy factors, import demand across certain manufacturing sectors in Argentina has also trended downward, leading to a notable decline in demand for components and spare parts used in assembly. Diminishing domestic purchasing power has impacted Vietnam-Argentina trade. This helps explain why Vietnam’s exports of technological components and spare parts to Argentina plummeted by 56.72%, dropping to just 174.83 million USD. Additionally, the vast geographical distance and high logistics costs along the maritime route to South America remain factors that inflate the cost of bringing Vietnamese goods into the Argentine market, exerting a certain pressure on the competitiveness of exporting enterprises. However, the declining figures do not tell the whole story. Argentina’s open-door policies and the adaptability of Vietnamese businesses have forged new momentum for specific export groups. Anticipating Argentina’s policy to exempt import tariffs on fully assembled phones and computers starting in mid-January 2026, Vietnamese enterprises swiftly seized market opportunities. As a result, exports of technology goods recorded a breakthrough growth of 60.62%, reaching 62.47 million USD. Meanwhile, as Argentine businesses scrambled for cost-effective raw materials to replace expensive European alternatives, Vietnam’s textile, footwear, and fiber raw materials immediately filled this gap, hitting 24.53 million USD (a 16.63% increase). On the import side, the commodity structure also recorded notable shifts, with Vietnam continuing to ramp up imports of strategic raw materials from Argentina. Specifically, corn imports reached 1.21 billion USD (up 75.87%), and cotton fiber imports hit 17.36 million USD (up 113.46%). Notably, the appearance of crude oil import turnover valued at 45.05 million USD from the Vaca Muerta project has opened up positive prospects for bilateral energy cooperation. The Trade Office Proactively Implements Trade Promotion Measures Recognizing that the export contraction stemmed from the diminishing effectiveness of traditional trade channels, the Vietnam Trade Office in Argentina proactively rolled out practical trade promotion activities tailored to market demands as early as July 2026. Realizing that electronic components and spare parts were suffering sharp declines, the Trade Office shifted its focus toward promoting processed agricultural products, food items, consumer goods, and high-value-added products. Specifically, the Trade Office worked with numerous Argentine enterprises, associations, and promotion organizations—such as the Argentine Chamber of Exporters (CERA), the Argentine Rural Society (SRA), the Argentina-Paraguay business network, and various importers and distributors—to forge connections for coffee, cashew nuts, pepper, spices, furniture, and handicrafts. At the same time, the office discussed the feasibility of developing private-label products for the local market. Alongside these efforts, the Trade Office actively promoted Vietnam’s business environment, inviting Argentine associations and enterprises to participate in the Vietnam International Sourcing (VIS) 2026 event series, thereby expanding direct connection channels between South American buyers and Vietnamese companies. The Vietnam Trade Office in Argentina has proactively implemented practical trade promotion activities tailored to market demands. While these initiatives are still in their foundational networking stage, they have helped open doors for direct engagement with Argentine importers, associations, and distribution networks, laying the groundwork for future business collaborations and orders. Beyond business matching, the Trade Office has actively worked to clear bottlenecks in logistics and artificial intelligence by collaborating with partners in logistics, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence (AI). These efforts aim to find solutions that reduce transaction costs, improve networking efficiency, and assist enterprises in accessing the market. Furthermore, the office continuously updates businesses on new regulations issued by local authorities while regularly compiling and analyzing in-depth market intelligence, exchange rates, payment methods, and policy trends to help companies proactively manage risks in their import-export operations. Source: Cong Thuong Newspaper