Vietnam Now Port of Savannah’s Fastest Growing Trade Partner

Georgia Ports offers nine direct ocean carrier services between Vietnam and Savannah. Vietnam is making major enhancements to connectivity, including the expansion of seaport, rail, road and airport infrastructure. (Georgia Ports)

SAVANNAH, Ga., Dec. 4, 2025 – Vietnam is emerging as the Port of Savannah’s fastest-growing trade partner, propelled by increased manufacturing and a strong push to expand the country’s logistics backbone.

“With its strategic location and business-friendly policies, Vietnam represents an expanding logistics market,” said Georgia Ports President and CEO Griff Lynch.

The U.S. and Vietnam recently agreed to reduce reciprocal tariffs to 20 percent on imports – with some product categories potentially moving to zero tariffs under the new trade framework. This will provide unprecedented access to the Vietnam market for U.S. exports. Over the past five years, Savannah’s container trade with Vietnam has climbed 38 percent, adding 104,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units to reach 379,000 TEUs in fiscal year 2025.

Savannah now sees steady two-way flows. Exports include forest products, food and cotton from Georgia and other states, as well as other U.S. commodities such as hardware, resins and retail consumer goods. Imports include Vietnamese apparel, footwear, furniture, electronics and machinery. Georgia Ports offers nine direct ocean carrier services between Savannah and Vietnam. Transit time takes 33 days from Vietnam to Savannah.

In November, Gemini (an operational collaboration between shipping lines Maersk and Hapag Lloyd), made Savannah its first port of call on the U.S. East Coast on its TP11/US1 service, which originates from the Port of Haiphong in Vietnam. The revised rotation is now Haiphong-Ningbo-Shanghai-Lazaro Cardenas-Savannah-Charleston-New York-Singapore. The advertised transit time is 39 days from Haiphong to Savannah.

In 2024, U.S.-Vietnam trade totaled approximately $135 billion, making the U.S. Vietnam’s second largest trading partner after China.

Vietnam’s role in global electronics production continues to deepen. Samsung alone has invested more than $23 billion in its Vietnamese plants, which supply more than half of the company’s global smartphone output.