WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer held a productive virtual meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart in which they agreed on the importance of making swift progress on reciprocal trade, his office said in a statement on Thursday.
Greer and Vietnam’s Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien spoke on Wednesday and “instructed their teams to engage in technical discussions in the coming days to discuss efforts to expand market access and address unfair trade practices,” it said.
“Both sides agreed on the importance of making swift progress towards reciprocal and balanced trade between the United States and Vietnam,” the statement said.
Vietnam has the fourth-largest trade surplus among all U.S. trading partners, worth $123.5 billion last year.
It faces a whopping 46% U.S. tariff under reciprocal measures announced by U.S. President Donald Trump early this month.
The U.S. has paused imposition of the tariffs until July to allow for negotiations, although a flat rate of 10% still applies. A 46% tariff could severely undermine growth in Vietnam, which relies on exports to its top market, the United States, and large investments by foreign manufacturers.
Vietnam is an important Southeast Asian industrial hub and has been an increasingly important security partner for the United States in standing up to China’s growing power.
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Tuesday instructed officials to combat trade fraud, counterfeiting and other issues of concern for the United States. He has also said Vietnam will buy more American goods, including defense and security products, and seek faster deliveries of commercial planes Vietnamese airlines have ordered from the U.S.
Under U.S. pressure, Vietnam is tightening controls on some trade with China to make sure goods exported to the United States with a “Made in Vietnam” label have sufficient added value in the country to justify that.
China’s President Xi Jinping visited Hanoi last week and called for stronger ties with Vietnam on trade and supply chains.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Katharine Jackson and Daniel Wallis)
