Leaders from Southeast Asia are arriving in Washington, D.C. for the U.S.-ASEAN Summit, where the White House said it will discuss issues ranging from climate change to COVID-19.
But the top topic, as always, will be trade and economic development.
ASEAN includes ten Southeast Asian states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam-- each of which is vying for more U.S. production business.
Leaders from eight of them are attending the meetings, scheduled for May 12 and May 13. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte declined an invitation; Myanmar is currently being run by its army and wasn't offered one.
U.S. foreign trade data shows that in 2000, the ten ASEAN states, which total 667 million people, were largely equivalent to China (pop. 1.4 billion) in their exports to the U.S. But China's U.S. exports have grown twice as fast over the subsequent two decades.
ASEAN states have increased their collective annual exports to the U.S. by 225 percent since 2000, from 87.84 billion to 285.91 billion.
For context, over the same period, China (pop. 1.4 billion) increased its exports 407 percent, from 100.02 billion to 506.367 billion.
A U.S. trade war with China is halting this growth, leading U.S. businesses to import from countries with lower tariffs.
For instance, U.S. solar panel importers pay a 200 percent tariff on goods imported from China, versus just 14.75 percent if they are from Vietnam, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.
In April, the White House said its hosting of the Special Summit is proof that it is committed to helping the region develop.
"It is a top priority for the Biden-Harris Administration to serve as a strong, reliable partner in Southeast Asia," the White House said. "Our shared aspirations for the region will continue to underpin our common commitment to advance an Indo-Pacific that is free and open, secure, connected, and resilient."
Twelve thousand percent
Nearly half of the ASEAN growth came from a single country: Vietnam, which entered a free trade agreement with the U.S. in 2000 and joined the World Trade Organization in 2007. That's two decades after abandoning the Soviet Union's central planning system for its economy.
"Vietnam realized that the country was on the brink of economic collapse and the development model the country had borrowed from the Soviet Union and the Eastern European bloc had proven to be outmoded with flaws that hindered the country’s economic growth," explained Cindy Lee of Braumiller Law Group.
Companies like Williams-Sonoma, Restoration Hardware, West Elm, Nike, Adidas, Puma, Lululemon, Gap, Apple, Intel, and Microsoft expanded operations to Vietnam. The U.S. currently imports everything from rubber to microchips and airplane components from the country.
In Asia, China increasingly sources materials for its manufacturing of garments, footwear and smartphones from Vietnam. And its companies are even moving their manufacturing operations there.
Hong Kong-listed and Shanghai-based Texhong, one of the largest producers of yarn in the world, announced in 2020 it would invest $500 million more in Vietnam. The company already employs some 20,000 in Vietnam's Quang Ninh province it says.
The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association said in January that the total export value of the country's textiles and garments grow 13 percent from 2020 to 2021. It is now the second-largest exporter to the U.S., after China.
The group said Nike now has 200 Vietnamese manufacturing plants; Adidas has 76.
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Vietnam leads ASEAN nations growth in trade with U.S.
| Country | Pop. | Exports to US 2021 | Exports to US 2000 | Change 2000 to 2021 |
| millions | millions | millions | millions | |
| Brunei | 0.44 | 19 | 283 | -93.29% |
| Cambodia | 16.7 | 8,745 | 826 | 958.72% |
| Indonesia | 273.5 | 27,070 | 10,367 | 161.12% |
| Laos | 7.3 | 218 | 10 | 2080.00% |
| Malaysia | 32.37 | 56,194 | 25,568 | 119.78% |
| Myanmar | 54.4 | 935 | 471 | 98.51% |
| Philippines | 109.6 | 14,023 | 13,934 | 0.64% |
| Vietnam | 97.34 | 101,908 | 821 | 12312.67% |
| Singapore | 5.7 | 29,433 | 19,178 | 53.47% |
| Thailand | 69.8 | 47,367 | 16,385 | 189.09% |
| TOTALS | 667 | 285,912 | 87,843 | 225.48% |
| China | 1,402 | 506,367 | 100,018 | 406.28% |
Source: U.S. Census