Vietnam's furniture sector 'nervous' over US logging probe

Washington investigates nation's timber industry and ties to illegal logging overseas

Men work inside a furniture factory in Ho Chi Minh City in 2006, and containers at Dinh Vu Port in Hai Phong city in 2019. Vietnam overtook China last year in furniture exports to the U.S. (Source photos by AFP/Jiji)

SHAUN TURTON, Contributing Writer

June 28, 2021 12:02 JST

PHNOM PENH -- Vietnam's growing dominance as a furniture exporter is at risk as trade authorities in the U.S., its biggest market, probe the country's timber industry and its ties to illegal logging abroad.

The sector has boomed in recent years, thanks in part to former U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war with China, which saw tariffs as high as 25% slapped on Chinese furniture exports.