How to export from Vietnam to the USA: export rights, VNACCS declaration, VAT, certificate of origin, US rules

Before the first shipment: export rights, banned goods and goods that need a permit

Exports from Vietnam are governed by the Law on Foreign Trade Management (No. 05/2017/QH14) and, from September 5, 2026, by Decree 292/2026/NĐ-CP, which replaced Decree 69/2018/NĐ-CP as the decree implementing that law.^[5] If you are reading guidance written before that date, check every reference to Decree 69 against the new decree.

Under Article 3 of Decree 292, a Vietnamese trader that is not a foreign-invested company may export regardless of the business lines in its registration, except for goods on the export ban list, goods banned under other laws and goods whose export is suspended. A foreign-invested company may directly export, or export through an entrusted exporter, the products it makes itself.^[5]

Appendix I of Decree 292 lists the goods banned from export. It includes weapons and military equipment, antiques and national treasures, round and sawn timber from Vietnam's natural forests, wild specimens of Group I endangered species and CITES Appendix I species found in Vietnam when exported for commercial purposes, rough diamonds whose export the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme bars, and e-cigarettes and heated tobacco.^[5] Appendix III lists goods exported under a license or conditions, among them specially controlled chemicals and precursors, strategic trade goods, civil cryptographic products and specimens of CITES-listed wild animals and plants; the responsible ministry publishes the HS codes.^[5]

If your product needs a license, a specialized-inspection result or proof that you meet investment-law conditions, that document goes into the customs dossier, or reaches Customs electronically through the National Single Window.^[4] Furniture and wood-product makers should keep the timber-origin records for each order: they matter for the Vietnamese ban list and again for the US Lacey Act declaration described below.

Agree terms with your US buyer: Incoterm, payment and where the money lands

Settle three things in the sales contract before production: the Incoterm, the payment method and who books the ocean freight. Under FOB or FCA your buyer's forwarder books the vessel and your cost and risk end at the port or the agreed handover point in Vietnam; under CIF, CFR or DAP you book and pay the freight to the US port or further. Our Incoterms guide explains each rule from the exporter's seat; it is written for India, but the rules are the ICC's and apply the same way from Ho Chi Minh City. The Incoterms explainer sets them side by side.

Payment is your choice with the buyer, but where the proceeds land is regulated. Under Decree 70/2014/NĐ-CP, a resident that earns foreign currency from exporting goods or services must transfer it into a foreign-currency account at an authorized credit institution in Vietnam in line with the payment term in the contract or payment documents, unless the State Bank of Vietnam allows part or all of it to be kept abroad; every payment and remittance related to exports must be made by bank transfer through an authorized credit institution.^[9] Ask your bank how it documents export receipts against the contract and the customs declaration.

Payment by bank transfer also matters for VAT: the VAT Law makes a contract with the foreign buyer, the sales invoice, non-cash payment documents, the customs declaration, the packing list and the bill of lading conditions for deducting input VAT on exports.^[7] Keep them in one file per shipment from the start.

The export customs declaration on VNACCS: who files, which documents and when

Vietnam's customs procedures rest on the Customs Law (No. 54/2014/QH13), Decree 08/2015/NĐ-CP as amended (most recently by Decree 167/2025/NĐ-CP), and Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC as amended by Circular 39/2018/TT-BTC and by Circular 121/2025/TT-BTC, in force from February 1, 2026.^[1][3][4] Law 11/2026/QH16, issued on August 23, 2026, amends the Customs Law from March 1, 2027; the amended text keeps the 4-hour limit for filing an export dossier (2 hours for express) and the 15-day validity of a registered declaration.^[2] Confirm the current dossier and procedure with Vietnam Customs or your customs agent as of October 15, 2026.

The customs declarant may be the goods owner itself, a customs brokerage agent, or another person the owner authorizes; a customs agent must be recognized by Customs and use staff holding a customs declaration certificate.^[1] Declarations are made electronically unless the Government allows a paper declaration, and the declarant must fill every information field fully and accurately.^[1] In VNACCS the export data are entered first (operation EDA) and then registered (operation EDC).^[3]

For exports the declaration is filed after the goods have been gathered at the location the declarant notified, and no later than 4 hours before the means of transport departs (2 hours for goods sent by express delivery). A registered declaration is valid for customs procedures for 15 days.^[1] Plan to the terminal cut-off on your booking confirmation, which comes earlier.

Under Article 16 of Circular 38 as replaced by Circular 121 from February 1, 2026, the export dossier comprises the declaration; the commercial invoice where the buyer pays the seller (not needed if an electronic invoice was issued before the declaration); the export license or permit if the goods are licensed; the specialized-inspection notice or result; proof of meeting investment-law conditions where required; the entrustment contract where an exporter ships on another's license or inspection result; and, for a foreign-invested company exercising export rights, its certificate covering trading activities, filed the first time it clears at that customs office.^[4] Documents already sent through the National Single Window need not be resubmitted, and paper documents in an electronic declaration are produced only when Customs checks the dossier or the goods.^[4][1] Our export documents checklist covers the commercial set the US buyer needs (invoice, packing list, bill of lading).

Green, yellow and red channels: how VNACCS sorts your declaration and how long checks take

Customs checks are risk-based. The circular numbers the channels 1, 2 and 3; green, yellow and red are the names in everyday use. The customs data system notifies a channel as soon as it receives and registers the declaration, and it can change the channel automatically if the risk information changes by the time the goods reach the port.^[3]

• Channel 1 (green): the declaration is accepted as filed.^[3]
• Channel 2 (yellow): Customs checks the supporting documents you submit or that sit on the National Single Window.^[3]
• Channel 3 (red): Customs physically inspects the goods on the basis of those documents.^[3]

Export duty and VAT on exports from Vietnam

Export duty applies only to the goods named in the Export Tariff, Appendix I to Decree 26/2023/NĐ-CP. If your product is not named there, you declare its eight-digit code from the Preferential Import Tariff and do not declare an export duty rate on the export declaration.^[6] The Export Tariff also catches, under its catch-all line 211, materials and semi-finished goods made directly from natural resources or minerals where the resources plus energy make up 51% or more of production cost.^[6] Check your HS code against the current tariff with your customs agent.

VAT on exported goods is 0%. The VAT Law (No. 48/2024/QH15, in force from July 1, 2025) defines exported goods as goods sold from Vietnam to a party abroad and consumed outside Vietnam, plus some sales into non-tariff zones and on-the-spot exports; exported natural resources and minerals that are unprocessed, or processed but on the Government's list, are carved out.^[7]

VAT refunds run by mechanism, not by a rate. A business with exports in a month or quarter whose uncredited input VAT is VND 300 million or more may claim a refund for that month or quarter (not for goods imported and then re-exported). If you also sell in Vietnam, you allocate input VAT to exports, offset it against VAT payable on domestic sales, and the refund for the period may not exceed 10% of export revenue; any excess carries forward.^[7] Your accountant and the tax authority apply the detailed conditions in the implementing decree.

Certificate of origin for the US: who issues it, and why it earns no preference

Who issues it changed in 2025. By Decision 1103/QĐ-BCT of April 21, 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) withdrew the authority it had delegated to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI). From May 5, 2025, VCCI stopped issuing all Form A and Form B certificates of origin and non-preferential C/Os, and the MoIT's Agency of Foreign Trade issues them through its regional import-export management offices.^[8] If your files still name VCCI as the issuer, update them.

For the US the C/O is a commercial document, not a duty document. The United States has no free trade agreement in force with Vietnam,^[10] so a Vietnamese certificate earns no preferential US rate. Ask for one when the buyer or the letter of credit requires it. What the US side does care about is the true origin of the goods: the importer declares the country of origin in the ISF and on the entry,^[11] and the duty that applies to Vietnamese origin is set out in US tariffs on Vietnam.

Transshipment is enforced as a rule. Under the Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA), an interested party may allege that an importer is evading antidumping or countervailing duties; CBP's published timeline puts the interim-measures decision at day 90 of an investigation and the evasion determination at day 300 or 360.^[14] If goods subject to such an order on another country are routed through Vietnam and entered as Vietnamese, that is the evasion EAPA targets. Keep the bill of materials, input invoices by country, production records and the C/O file for every US order, so your buyer can answer CBP questions.

Ports for US-bound cargo: Cat Lai, Cai Mep, Haiphong and Da Nang

Southern factories in and around Ho Chi Minh City gate containers in at Cat Lai (VNSGN); the deep-water Cai Mep–Thi Vai terminals near Vung Tau (VNVUT) take mainline vessels. Northern cargo from the Hanoi, Bac Ninh and Hai Duong clusters leaves through Haiphong (VNHPH), and central Vietnam ships through Da Nang (VNDAD). Transit ranges, routing and US discharge ports are on the Vietnam to USA lane guide and the transit time tool.

Airlift USA's own office in Ho Chi Minh City arranges factory pickup, container loading and the export documents; AIRLIFT (U.S.A.), INC., an FMC-licensed NVOCC (FMC No. 016162), issues its own house bill of lading, files the ISF as the NVOCC and arranges the US customs entry through licensed customs brokers. See the Ho Chi Minh City office page.

Use the container load calculator to size the order, read LCL vs FCL for the consolidation trade-off (written for India, the logic is the same from Cat Lai), and the chargeable weight calculator for air. Wooden pallets and crates must carry the ISPM 15 mark.

What the US side needs from you: ISF, marking, Lacey Act, labels and duty

ISF and AMS. For ocean cargo the ISF Importer must transmit the seller, buyer, importer of record number and consignee number, plus the manufacturer or supplier, ship-to party, country of origin and HTS number, no later than 24 hours before the cargo is laden aboard the vessel at the foreign port; the container stuffing location and consolidator follow, no later than 24 hours before arrival in the US.^[11] Your factory name and address, the stuffing location and the HTS code therefore have to be with the forwarder before the cut-off. See Importer Security Filing, AMS and the US import rules guide, which applies to any origin.

Origin marking. Every article of foreign origin, or its container, must be marked conspicuously, legibly, indelibly and permanently with the English name of the country of origin, so the US ultimate purchaser can see it; unmarked articles pay an additional duty of 10 percent of the final appraised value unless exported or destroyed under CBP supervision.^[12] "Made in Vietnam" on the product or carton, as the rules require for your article, is the exporter's job.

Furniture and wood: Lacey Act. Imports of covered plant and wood products need a Lacey Act declaration, filed by the importer of record or its agent primarily in CBP's ACE system; APHIS stopped accepting paper PPQ 505 forms on January 1, 2026, and Phase VII, which began on December 1, 2024, covers products including furniture.^[13] Give your buyer the wood species and where it was harvested with the order. CPSC furniture rules (such as tip-over stability for dressers) are covered in our wooden furniture export guide; FDA rules for food and APHIS plant-health rules are in the US import rules guide.

Garments and textiles. Textile products need a label with fiber content, country of origin and the identity of the manufacturer or dealer by name or Registered Identification Number; RNs are not issued to businesses outside the US, so your label carries your buyer's name or RN.^[15] Outer coverings of upholstered furniture are outside the Textile Act labeling rules, while slipcovers are inside them.^[15] Our textiles and apparel guide covers care labels, flammability and children's wear.

Duty. US duty on Vietnamese-origin goods is the HTS rate plus the additional measures in force on the entry date. We keep the full stack, with dates and sources, in US tariffs on Vietnam; find the HTS line in the HTS code finder and run the landed cost in the tariff simulator.

The export timeline from Vietnam to the USA: step, who does it, when, and the document

Booking cut-offs come from the carrier's booking confirmation and vary by terminal and service; the customs, ISF and manifest rows are legal deadlines.