Some Vietnam Sets Up 793%

Vietnam Still Flexing Muscles as Supplier of Small TVs, Imports Show

March 10, 2021 by Paul Gluckman|Top News

Imports of major high-demand consumer tech goods waned somewhat in January from December, but most categories remained far ahead of their January 2020 volume, according to Census Bureau trade statistics accessed Tuesday through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. It’s unclear whether the retreat in January shipments in major Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) tech categories was the result of global semiconductor shortages that impeded supply or the first sign that torrid COVID-19 pandemic-era consumer demand for home connectivity and entertainment tools, evident through most of 2020, was beginning to run its course.

Vietnam continued bolstering its stature as an important country of origin in the consumer tech supply chain in several categories, but especially in laptops and tablets, plus TVs with screen sizes smaller than 45 inches, DataWeb showed. Smartphones were one exception: Vietnam generated nearly a fifth of all handset shipments to the U.S. in 2020 but regressed somewhat in that category in January, likely due to the growing mix of 5G-enabled smartphones that originate almost exclusively from China. Following are the major import trends for January, and comparisons with December and January 2020:

TVs in All Sizes (HTS 8528.72.64). U.S. importers sourced 3.43 million TVs from all countries in January, said DataWeb. That was down 6.5% from December, up 13.2% year on year. Dollar TV imports declined 2.4% from December to $898.93 million but were up 12.6% from the same month a year earlier.

Mexico remained the top country of origin for TV imports to the U.S. in January, but its 51.3% share was nearly 10 points lower than in January 2020, when it compensated for China’s supply chain disruption in the early weeks of COVID-19 factory closures. Mexico shipped 1.76 million TVs to the U.S. in January, 1.1% fewer than in December and 4.9% fewer than in the same 2020 month.

Chinese TV imports in January declined 19.4% from December to 1.08 million sets but soared 38.5% from January 2020, when the Chinese supply chain was operating at less than full throttle, said DataWeb. Vietnam was January’s big story in TV imports. It generated nearly 10% of the month’s TV shipments to the U.S., more than doubling its 4.6% share in January 2020. Vietnamese imports in TVs of all sizes were up 17.2% from December to 340,000 sets, a remarkable 143% increase from January a year earlier.

TVs With 30- to 35-Inch Screens (HTS 8528.72.64.30). January imports from all countries in this class of sets were 17.4% of all TV shipments to the U.S., slightly lower than its 17.8% share a year earlier, said DataWeb. Unit imports of 597,000 were down 15.9% from December but up 10.6% year over year.

China’s 280,000 sets in the class led all other countries with a 46.9% share in January, its unit volume rising 64.7% year over year but declining 31.7% from December, said DataWeb. Vietnam was second to China in this class with a 26.8% share. Its 160,000 units were unchanged from December but up 23.1% from January 2020. Shipments from Mexico were 16.4% of sets in the 30- to 35-inch class, its units declining 30% from a year earlier to 98,000 sets.

TVs With 35- to 45-Inch Screens (HTS 8528.72.64.40). Total January TV imports in this class reached 784,000 sets, a little more than a fifth (22.9%) of all TVs shipped here in the month, said DataWeb. Unit shipments in this class were down 2% from December, up 24.4% from a year earlier.

China generated 39.3% share of TV imports in this class, its shipments rising 46.7% from a year earlier to 308,000, said DataWeb. Mexico, second to China, had a 33.2% share, a 30.3-point drop from January 2020, because of its 35% year-over-year decline to 260,000 sets. Vietnam again was the big winner here, generating 18.2% share of all imports in the class, compared with only 2.5% share a year earlier. Vietnam’s 143,000 sets in this class were 793.8% higher than in January 2020.

TVs With 45-Inch+ Screens (HTS 8528.72.64.60). Vietnam doesn’t play in the class of TV imports with the largest screen sizes, which accounted for 53.6% of all January TV imports to the U.S., down from 58.7% a year earlier, said DataWeb. U.S. importers sourced 1.84 million sets with the largest screens from all countries in January, up 3.4% year over year.

Mexico generated 74.5% of TV imports in January with the largest screens, to China’s 17.4%, said DataWeb. Mexican shipments in the class reached 1.84 million sets, down 5.6% from December but up 6.2% year over year. Imports from China were 324,000, down 14.7% from December and 7.4% fewer than in January 2020.

Laptops and Tablets (HTS 8471.30.01). U.S. importers sourced 10.54 million laptops and tablets from all countries in January, 26.9% fewer than in December and 81.4% more than in January 2020, said DataWeb. Dollar imports of $4.41 billion were down 24.1% from December, up 75.7% from January 2020. China generated 92.5% of all laptop and tablet shipments, and its 9.75 million units were up 84.7% from a year earlier. Vietnam’s 460,000 units gave it a 4.4% share, and its shipments were 109% better than a year earlier.

Smartphones (HTS 8517.12.00). U.S. importers took delivery of 15.73 million handsets from all countries in January, 14.7% fewer than in December and up 9.2% from January 2020, said DataWeb. Dollar imports of $4.45 billion were down 29% from December, up 22.3% from a year earlier.

China generated 82.2% of all smartphone imports to the U.S. in January, to Vietnam’s 13.7%, said DataWeb. It was a noticeable falloff for Vietnam, which contributed nearly a fifth of all handsets to the U.S. supply chain in 2020. The Chinese shipped 12.93 million smartphones to the U.S. in January, down 17% from December, up 18.3% year on year. Vietnam’s 2.15 million handset shipments were virtually unchanged from December, down 17.9% from January 2020.