Vietnam Emerges as Fastest-Growing Trade Partner for Port of Savannah

The Port of Savannah has identified Vietnam as its fastest-growing trade partner, driven by a significant expansion in manufacturing capabilities and logistics infrastructure development in Southeast Asia.

Container trade between Savannah and Vietnam has surged 38 percent over the past five years, adding 104,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units to reach 379,000 TEUs in fiscal year 2025. This growth comes as both nations navigate a shifting trade landscape marked by recent tariff adjustments.

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

The trade relationship has been bolstered by a recent agreement between the U.S. and Vietnam to reduce reciprocal tariffs to 20 percent on imports, with some product categories potentially moving to zero tariffs under the new framework. This development is expected to provide unprecedented access to the Vietnam market for U.S. exports.

The trade flows between the two nations remain robust in both directions. Savannah exports forest products, food, cotton, hardware, resins, and retail consumer goods to Vietnam, while importing apparel, footwear, furniture, electronics, and machinery. Georgia Ports currently offers nine direct ocean carrier services connecting Savannah and Vietnam, with transit times averaging 33 days.

In a significant operational development this 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 for its TP11/US1 service originating from the Port of Haiphong in Vietnam. The revised rotation now includes stops at Ningbo, Shanghai, Lazaro Cardenas, Savannah, Charleston, New York, and Singapore, with an advertised transit time of 39 days from Haiphong to Savannah.

The growing partnership reflects Vietnam’s rising prominence in global trade. In 2024, U.S.-Vietnam trade totaled approximately $135 billion, making the United States Vietnam’s second-largest trading partner after China. Vietnam’s role in global electronics production continues to deepen, with Samsung alone investing more than $23 billion in Vietnamese plants that supply over half of the company’s global smartphone output.

The Port of Savannah’s infrastructure positions it as a strategic gateway for this expanding trade relationship. The facility handles 35 ship calls per week, 42 doublestack trains per week, and 14,000 truck gate moves daily. Georgia Ports Authority has outlined a self-financed $4.5 billion investment plan for the next decade, which includes adding five new big ship berths in Savannah to accommodate future growth.

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