Wedoany.com Report-Mar 14, Vietnam is reviewing its duties on U.S. goods, including on liquefied natural gas, agriculture and high-tech products, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told the U.S. ambassador to the country, a report on the government's website said.
Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attends the retreat session of the 45th ASEAN Summit at the National Convention Centre in Vientiane, Laos, October 9, 2024.
The Southeast Asian industrial hub, which is heavily reliant on exports to the United States and has a large trade surplus with Washington, exceeding $123 billion in 2024, is scrambling to avoid reciprocal tariffs that the Trump administration has threatened globally to reduce America's trade deficit.
Among U.S. top trading partners, Vietnam is the most exposed in terms of value of its exports to the United States as a share of its GDP
Chinh said "relevant ministries, sectors and agencies are actively reviewing import tariffs on goods from the United States, encouraging increased imports of key U.S. products that Vietnam needs, especially agricultural products, liquefied gas and high-tech products," the report on the government portal said.
Chinh met U.S. Ambassador Marc Knapper on Thursday.
Vietnam's trade minister Nguyen Hong Dien delivered a similar message to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during his visit to Washington that is currently underway, according to a statement published on the ministry's website on Friday.
They discussed ways to promote business ties "through proactively reviewing and considering the removal of trade barriers," according to the Vietnamese trade ministry.
During the visit to Washington, Dien plans to have meetings with top U.S. trade and energy officials with the aim of reaching unspecified deals, according to a Vietnam government document.
In a possible positive sign, a delegation of more than 60 U.S. corporations plans to visit Vietnam later in March, according to the US-ASEAN Business Council, the advocacy group that has organised the trip.
The organiser declined to name any of the participants, which in past years included top U.S. tech, defence and energy firms.
U.S. businesses and manufacturers in Vietnam voiced concerns about their operations in case of tariffs, according to a February survey.
REPEATED PLEDGES
Vietnamese officials have repeatedly indicated their willingness to meet U.S. requests on reducing trade imbalances and to facilitate U.S. business in the country, including by pledging a quick licensing process for Elon Musk's Starlink satellite services.
Vietnam is one of the world's top exporters to the United States, with the U.S. market absorbing Vietnamese imports worth nearly one-third of the Southeast Asian country's economic output.
Vietnamese imports of U.S. LNG have often been mentioned by Vietnamese and U.S. officials as a means to reduce the large trade gap, but no concrete steps have been taken yet.
The fledgling Vietnamese LNG industry currently relies on spot deals for small shipments, rather than multi-year contracts preferred by U.S. exporters.
In February, the trade minister said Vietnam was ready to import more farm products from the United States.
More than one-fourth of U.S. exports to Vietnam last year were agricultural products, mostly cotton, soybeans and tree nuts, for a total value of $3.4 billion, according to U.S. government data.
Vietnam is also keen to import more U.S. high-tech products, including AI-grade chips, but faces restrictions on accessing the most advanced semiconductors under rules adopted by the Biden administration.
