Delegates at the 2025 Annual Public-Private Partnership Group Conference held in HCM City on April 17. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — Pepper exporters need to adapt to the rapid and unpredictable developments in global trade, tapping markets with room for growth and enhancing product quality to maintain competitiveness, a conference heard in HCM City late last week.

Speaking at the 2025 Annual Public-Private Partnership Group Conference organised by the Việt Nam Pepper and Spice Association, Lê Việt Anh, the VPSA’s chief of office, reported that in the first quarter Việt Nam exported 39,853 tonnes of black pepper and 7,807 tonnes of white pepper for US$326.6 million.

It represented a 16.1 per cent drop in volume but a 38.6 per cent jump in value year-on-year on the back of soaring global prices.

The US remained Việt Nam’s largest buyer despite a 32.6 per cent drop in volume to 10,278 tonnes, accounting for 25 per cent of export value.

Other top markets included India (3,370 tonnes, down 11.2 per cent), Germany (3,358 tonnes, down 9.3 per cent), and the UAE (2,757 tonnes, up 15.2 per cent).

Shipments to China jumped by 87.8 per cent to 2,034 tonnes.

According to the association, the industry is facing significant headwinds, especially the US’s imposition of a 10 per cent tariff and a 46 per cent reciprocal tariff on certain Vietnamese goods.

Việt Nam has a 90-day negotiation window during which Washington will not impose the reciprocal tariffs.

VPSA chairwoman Hoàng Thị Liên said: “Businesses are cautious and holding off major export decisions while awaiting the outcome of the negotiations.

“If the negotiations fail to bring down tariffs, Vietnamese exporters could lose market share in the US to Brazil and Indonesia.

“The pepper industry is hoping that the Government will negotiate to reduce the reciprocal tariffs to the lowest possible levels.”

She urged businesses to maximise delivery during the 90-day grace period and proactively explore alternative markets like Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

“If, after negotiations, the countervailing tariffs on Vietnamese pepper remain higher than those of competitors, Việt Nam’s market share in the US will likely shrink.”

The VPSA said total pepper imports of European countries in 2024 increased by 20 per cent compared to 2023 to 120,657 tonnes.  Việt Nam's share of pepper exports to Europe also steadily increased over the years, rising from 44.6 per cent in 2022 to 51.1 per cent in 2023 and 52.1 per cent in 2024.

It noted that the EU remains a highly demanding market with stringent quality, traceability and technical compliance requirements, especially for premium products like white and organic pepper, meaning Vietnamese exporters must constantly improve their quality.

Sustainability and public-private cooperation

Huỳnh Tiến Dũng, country director of IDH Vietnam (Initiative for Sustainable Trade in Việt Nam), highlighted the joint efforts made by the Public-Private Partnership Working Group on Pepper and Spices in the past year for supporting sustainable pepper and spices production.

This year marks the conclusion of the group’s 2021–2025 strategic phase, during which progress has been made in improving farming practices, building farmer capacity, fostering dialogue between public and private sectors, and strengthening ties with international industry associations like the European Spice Association and the American Spice Trade Association, he said.

Looking ahead, the pepper sector faces ongoing risks, from inflation and geopolitical instability to increasing market demands for transparency, traceability and sustainable practices, trends that make it more important than ever to reinforce cooperation frameworks and develop a resilient strategy for 2026–2030, he said.

He shared IDH's vision for the next strategic phase: boosting commercial value through quality improvement, traceability and income diversification, particularly by promoting intercropping of pepper and coffee in the Central Highlands. It also aims to stabilise smallholder livelihoods by integrating sustainable production systems and expanding market and financial access, enhance environmental resilience by promoting regenerative agriculture, increasing carbon absorption, improving biodiversity, and enabling more accurate emissions tracking across pepper–coffee intercropping systems. — VNS