Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing economies in Southeast Asia and, over the past few years, one of the biggest winners of the shift away from single-country sourcing. A large share of the orders that used to leave Chinese factories now leave Vietnamese ones. The country is the European Union’s top trading partner in ASEAN and sits among the three largest sources of goods imported into the United States. This guide explains the most important aspects of shipping from Vietnam to Europe and the USA.
Shipping from Vietnam to Europe and the USA: modes of transport
Three modes carry cargo out of Vietnam toward Western markets. Each one buys you a different trade-off between speed, cost, and reliability. Here is how they compare in practice.
Sea shipping from Vietnam to Europe and the USA
Sea freight is the default choice for heavy, high-volume, and cost-sensitive cargo.
Transit time from Vietnam to Europe via sea
You can book a direct service or route indirectly through a large European hub such as Rotterdam, Antwerp, or Hamburg, which remain the busiest gateways for containers arriving from Asia.
Transit time to North Europe now sits at roughly 30 to 42 days. That is longer than the figures many older guides quote, and the reason is the Red Sea. Attacks on shipping around the Bab el Mandeb strait have pushed most carriers away from the Suez Canal and around the Cape of Good Hope, which adds about 10 to 14 days to Asia-to-Europe voyages and pushes fuel surcharges higher. Build that buffer into your delivery windows and your inventory planning.
Transit time from Vietnam to the USA via sea
To the United States, the picture is different because the Pacific crossing is not affected by the Red Sea. A container ship from Vietnam reaches the US West Coast in about 18 to 25 days. East Coast and Gulf ports take roughly 30 to 40 days, since vessels transit the Panama Canal, where periodic drought restrictions on daily slots can add a few days during dry spells. You can discharge at Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle, New York and New Jersey, Savannah, and Houston, and so on.
Air shipping from Vietnam to Europe and the USA
Air freight is the fastest option and the most expensive per kilogram, which makes it a fit for light, high-value, or urgent shipments.
The leading Vietnamese international airports for cargo are Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City, Noi Bai in Hanoi, and Da Nang.
Transit time from Vietnam to Europe and the USA via air
Standard air freight from Vietnam to both Europe and the US takes about 3 to 7 days airport to airport, and express services move parcels in roughly 2 to 5 days. Many experienced importers split a batch, sending an urgent portion by air and the balance by sea.
Rail shipping from Vietnam to Europe
Rail has become a more serious alternative since the Red Sea disruption, because it sidesteps the ocean detour entirely. There is still no single through train that runs from Vietnam to Europe. The practical routing takes your cargo overland into a Chinese rail hub such as Chongqing, Xi’an, or Chengdu, and then onward on the China to Europe Railway Express toward terminals like Duisburg, Hamburg, Warsaw, and Malaszewicze.
The Vietnam to China leg has been streamlined by the ASEAN Express corridor, which launched with trains between Hanoi and Chongqing in late 2024 and became bidirectional in mid-2025.
Transit time from Vietnam to Europe via rail
The China to Europe portion of the trip typically takes about 12 to 20 days, so the full Vietnam to Europe journey by rail generally lands in the region of 25 to 30 days, faster than the current Cape-routed sea service and far cheaper than air. Many operators now route via the Southern Corridor through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, and Turkey to avoid Russian territory, which adds a few days but has become the preferred path for European shippers.
Seaports in Vietnam
Vietnam’s container trade is anchored by a handful of major ports. Knowing which one your supplier ships from helps you understand routing, transit time, and whether your cargo can sail direct or needs a transshipment stop.
- Cat Lai, part of the Ho Chi Minh City port complex on the Saigon River, is the largest and busiest container terminal in the country and sits among the top 25 container ports in the world. It handles the bulk of southern Vietnam’s containerized exports, including textiles, footwear, and electronics.
- Cai Mep Thi Vai, a deep-water complex in Ba Ria Vung Tau province around 70 kilometers southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, is the most strategically important port for long-haul shippers. It is one of only about twenty ports in the world able to handle the very largest container vessels, which means it offers direct services to North America and Europe without a transshipment stop in Singapore or Hong Kong.
- Hai Phong, in the northeast near the Gulf of Tonkin, is the dominant gateway for northern Vietnam and the Hanoi industrial belt. Its deep-water terminals at Lach Huyen can take large vessels directly.
- Da Nang is the main port serving central Vietnam and the central highlands, useful for suppliers based in that region.
If you want a closer look at each hub, its throughput, and the services it runs, see our detailed guide to the largest ports in Vietnam.
How much does shipping from Vietnam to Europe and the USA cost?
There is no single fixed rate. The price depends on the mode, the container type, the route, the season, and the volatility caused by the Red Sea situation. As a rough guide, a 40-foot container from Vietnam to North Europe has recently moved in the low to mid-four-figure range in US dollars, with Mediterranean ports often costing more, but that number swings quickly.
The bigger point most first-time importers miss is that the ocean rate is only part of the landed cost. Terminal handling, customs clearance, duty, inland trucking, and import VAT can together represent a large share of what you finally pay.
The reliable way to plan a budget is to compare live quotes for your exact cargo and route rather than to work from a table. You can request quotes for both sea and air freight through ShipHub. Compare freight quotes from verified forwarders for free!
Customs duty on goods from Vietnam
Customs duty on goods shipped from Vietnam to the European Union
The EU Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, known as the EVFTA, entered into force on 1 August 2020. Around 99 percent of Vietnamese exports enter the European Union free of customs duty. For most finished goods, from footwear and furniture to electronics and apparel, the duty line reads zero.
The benefit is not automatic. To claim the preferential rate, your goods have to meet the EVFTA rules of origin, and you need valid proof of origin. Under the agreement, this is a statement on origin made out by the exporter, with EU exporters registered in the REX system for consignments above 6,000 euros. Without acceptable origin documentation, your shipment is charged the standard tariff, which you can look up by commodity code in the EU’s TARIC database. In other words, the paperwork is what unlocks the duty-free treatment, so it is worth getting right before the goods leave Vietnam.
One change to note if you sell low-value parcels directly to EU consumers. From 1 July 2026, the EU abolished the old 150 euro customs duty exemption and applies a temporary flat duty of 3 euros per item on consignments valued up to 150 euros, a measure set to run until 2028 while a new digital customs system is built. Import VAT continues to apply from the first euro as before.
You can check the current standard rate for any product in the TARIC system.
Customs duty on goods shipped from Vietnam to the United States
Every product has a base rate under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, which you can search on the US International Trade Commission’s site. These rates vary widely by category. Many electronics sit at zero, furniture is low, and apparel and footwear can run into the high single or double digits. On top of that, genuinely Vietnamese goods entering the US pay the normal HTS duty plus a baseline surcharge of around 12.5 percent.
Make sure to confirm the live rate for your commodity code before you ship, and lean on a licensed customs broker to classify correctly.\
Shipping from Vietnam: in a nutshell
- Sea freight to Northern Europe takes about 30 to 42 days in 2026, extended by Cape of Good Hope rerouting. To the US, it is roughly 18 to 25 days for the West Coast and 30 to 40 days for the East Coast.
- Air freight runs about 3 to 7 days standard and 2 to 5 days express. Rail via a Chinese hub reaches Europe in around 25 to 30 days end to end.
- Under the EVFTA, about 99 percent of Vietnamese exports now enter the EU duty-free, provided you hold valid EVFTA proof of origin.
- US imports of genuinely Vietnamese goods pay the standard HTS duty plus a baseline surcharge of around 12.5 percent after the 2026 changes, with Section 232 metals tariffs stacking separately.
- Cat Lai is the busiest terminal, Cai Mep is the deep-water port for direct long-haul sailings, and Hai Phong serves the north.
Read our other guides on shipping to the US:
- Shipping from India to the US
- Shipping from Turkey to the US
- Shipping from France to the US
- Shipping from China to the US
- Shipping from Australia to the US
- Shipping from Japan to the US
- Shipping from South Korea to the US
Frequently asked questions
How long does sea freight from Vietnam to Europe take in 2026?
Sea freight from Vietnam to North Europe takes roughly 30 to 42 days port to port in 2026. Transit times are longer than in earlier years because Red Sea security concerns have pushed most carriers to sail around the Cape of Good Hope instead of through the Suez Canal, which adds about 10 to 14 days to the voyage.
How long does shipping from Vietnam to the USA take?
By sea, cargo reaches the US West Coast in about 18 to 25 days and the East Coast in about 30 to 40 days, the longer time reflecting the Panama Canal transit. By air, standard freight takes about 3 to 7 days and express services 2 to 5 days. Customs clearance on arrival usually adds one to five days.
Do I pay customs duty when importing from Vietnam to the EU?
For most goods, no. Under the EVFTA, around 99 percent of Vietnamese exports enter the European Union free of customs duty as of 2026. To claim that duty-free rate you must meet the agreement’s rules of origin and present valid proof of origin. Without it, the standard TARIC tariff applies. Import VAT is still due regardless.
What tariff applies to Vietnamese goods entering the US now?
Genuinely Vietnamese goods pay the standard Harmonized Tariff Schedule rate for the product plus a baseline surcharge of around 12.5 percent, following the changes made after the US Supreme Court struck down the earlier reciprocal tariffs in February 2026. Section 232 tariffs on metals such as steel and aluminum apply separately on top. Because rates have changed repeatedly, confirm the current figure for your commodity code before shipping.
What are the main seaports in Vietnam?
The main container ports are Cat Lai in Ho Chi Minh City, which is the busiest terminal; Cai Mep Thi Vai near Ho Chi Minh City, which is the deep-water port used for direct sailings to Europe and North America; and Hai Phong in the north, which serves Hanoi and the surrounding industrial region. Da Nang handles central Vietnam.
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