The China trade tariffs have dramatically cut into Virginia’s lucrative lumber export business this year, but five Virginia companies have just completed a week’s exhibition of their products in a promising southeast Asia market they hope will help take up the slack. Charles Fishburne reports.
Transcript:
Charles Fishburne: The exhibition was in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Stephanie Agee : Vietnam has actually purchased more than 33 million of these products this year.
Fishburne: Stephanie Agee is Marketing Director for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Agee: Vietnam has set some really ambitious goals to become a hub of furniture manufacturing.
Fishburne: China has been the largest importer of Virginia forestry products by far, but sales are off 55% because of the tariffs.
Agee: And that’s one of the reasons were are here in Vietnam, looking for new buyers and making sure these companies have access to a diverse set of export markets.
Fishburne: Vietnam is now the second largest export destination for Virginia log and lumber products.
Charles Fishburne, VPM News.