9M 2020 recap: Record high trade surplus despite COVID-19. In 9M 2020, Vietnam recorded exports of USD202.6bn (+4.1% YoY) and imports of USD186.1bn (-0.7% YoY), resulting in a record high trade surplus of USD16.5bn vs only USD7.3bn in 9M 2019. Contractions in global demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic dampened Vietnam’s exports of key products, including phones & spare parts (-7.1% YoY in 9M 2020), textiles, garments & footwear (-10.5% YoY) and food & agriculture products (-2.2% YoY).