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Vietnam gets a bite at the cherry as US farm exports find new market amid US-China trade war

  • American producers fretting as fresh food approaches sell-by dates are being forced to offload meat and fruit at knockdown prices
  • The tariff war fallout has helped introduce Vietnamese shoppers to imported treats such as cherries, but the change could spell disaster for local farmers

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Cherries from the United States. Photo: May Tse
Nguyen Thi Hanh had never eaten a cherry before the trade war between Washington and Beijing. A 64-year-old retiree living in Hanoi, she had often seen the fruit for sale at a local shop, but with a monthly pension of only 5 million Vietnamese dong (US$215), the imported treat was well outside her price range.
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These days, however, she has been buying cherries for about US$10 a kilogram, around half of what the shop used to charge.

“I think many Vietnamese people have not eaten cherries, so I hope the price will drop more, so many people can buy them,” Hanh said as she snapped up her third kilo in just two months.

Bui Thu Thuy, the shop’s owner, attributed the price fall to economic headwinds beyond Vietnam’s borders.
Nguyen Thi Hanh (left) buys American cherries and apples at a fruit shop in Hanoi. Photo: Bac Pham
Nguyen Thi Hanh (left) buys American cherries and apples at a fruit shop in Hanoi. Photo: Bac Pham
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“The trade war between the United States and China has benefited Vietnamese people,” she said, surrounded by trays of American cherries and red apples.
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