Vietnam's exports rose sharply last month, official figures showed Friday, as the communist country tries to negotiate relief from swingeing tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump. May exports stood at $39.6 billion, according to data from the General Statistics Office, up 17 percent on the same period a year ago, while the year-to-date total reached $180.2 billion, 14 percent higher than in 2024. Vietnam, a major centre for global brands producing shoes and clothes, says it is making progress in talks with Washington to head off Trump's threatened 46 percent levy. The Southeast Asian manufacturing hub has the third-biggest trade surplus with the United States after China and Mexico, putting it in the firing line for Trump's "Liberation Day" global tariff blitz. Vietnam's overall import-export turnover stood at $78.6 billion in May, 15.5 percent higher than the same month last year. Imports were up by 14.1 percent year on year to stand at $39 billion in May. Processed industrial goods dominated exports, while imports were led by production materials. Despite the tariff uncertainty, the United States remained Vietnam's number one export market with $57 billion in the first five months of 2025 -- up from $44 billion over the same period a year ago. Vietnamese and US trade negotiators meeting in Paris this week agreed to step up the pace of their talks. Vietnam has signed several agreements to buy hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of agricultural products and other raw materials from the United States as it seeks to rebalance their trading partnership. Trump's real estate group also broke ground last month on a $1.5-billion luxury golf resort in Vietnam, while his son Eric Trump has been scouting locations for a potential tower project in Ho Chi Minh City, the country's southern business hub. Source: AFP