The latest US tariffs on Chinese auto parts was likely to hit Viet Nam’s rubber industry, said the head of the Vietnam Rubber Association (VRA)’s Rubber Development Consulting Division Tran Thi Thuy Hoa.

Workers harvest latex at the Phu Rieng Rubber Plantation in the southern province of Binh Phuoc.

Hoa told Lao dong (Labour) newspaper that China was a key importer of rubber materials from Viet Nam, and about 70 per cent of its import volume was used to produce tyres.

Authorities and the VRA have been advising groups involved in the industry to limit supply and production expansion.

These recommendations may help larger plantations, but smaller companies are continuing to increase output.

Hoa said the supply from small-scale rubber plantations accounted for nearly 62 per cent of the country’s total output.

“This group’s knowledge of supply and demand remains limited so the VRA and relevant authorities will need to deal with these difficulties to manage supplies.”

According to Hoa, supply is currently higher than demand so the price had fallen, causing difficulties for the whole supply chain, including hundreds of thousands of workers and about 260,000 rubber growing households.

US President Donald Trump on September 14 directed aides to proceed with tariffs on another $200 billion of Chinese goods, including furniture and auto parts. — VNS