Dissecting the success of the Vietnam-US summit

Regional and international newspapers praised Vietnam's economic diplomacy acumen through Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's visit to the US.

Regional and international news agencies and media such as Reuters, The Strait Times, Malay Mail Online… simultaneously reported on the multi-billion dollar bilateral agreements that the two countries reached during Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's visit to the US.

US President Donald Trump greets and shakes hands with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the White House. Photo: Reuters.

Fox Business reported “Vietnam explores trade options with the US”. Fox Business quoted foreign policy experts as saying that boosting trade with Vietnam also brings security benefits to the US as both share concerns about the rise of the Chinese economy.

Impressive number of billions of dollars

Reuters reported that “President Trump hails ‘billion-dollar’ deal with Vietnam.” The news agency said that US President Donald Trump discussed trade with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during his visit to the White House on May 31 and welcomed a series of business deals worth billions of dollars that were signed and the jobs they created.

“They (Vietnam) just completed a large order with the United States and we appreciate that, because billions of dollars, which means making America and very good equipment for Vietnam,” Reuters quoted Mr. Trump as telling reporters at the White House.

However, Reuters quoted Murray Hiebert, a Southeast Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS, USA), as saying that while welcoming the new trade agreements with Vietnam, the Trump administration still believes that they are "good but not enough".

“They want Vietnam to come up with ideas to address the current surplus,” said Murray Hiebert.

According to Reuters, Vietnam is the country with the 6th largest trade surplus with the US, in which semiconductors and other electronic products exported to the US are increasing alongside traditional products such as footwear, wooden furniture, garments, etc.

However, Reuters also quoted Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as affirming that the two economies of Vietnam and the US complement each other more than compete with each other and that US exports to Vietnam are also increasing very rapidly.

First mover opportunity

Bangkok Post (Thailand) has a commentary article titled “Vietnam sets foot at Trump’s door”. This newspaper pointed out that while Mr. Trump has also invited both Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Philippine President, a close ally of the US in Southeast Asia, Mr. Rodrigo Duterte, to visit the US, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is the first Southeast Asian leader to set foot at the White House. This is also what many news agencies such as Reuters, CNN, and BBC have emphasized.

The Thai newspaper commented that the meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc clearly brought political benefits, but the good news for Vietnam is that it also brought huge economic benefits. The newspaper pointed out that while China is still the country with the largest trade surplus with the US (347 billion USD/year), Vietnam has also reached 32 billion USD/year, double that of Thailand in 11th place with 16 billion USD/year.

Thai newspapers believe that with the US partially lifting the arms embargo on Vietnam during President Barack Obama’s visit last year, paving the way for Vietnam to buy 6 new coast guard ships, it is very likely that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will propose buying more ships, missiles, tanks, etc. This is a way to reduce the future trade deficit between the two sides as well as create momentum for President Trump’s plan to promote domestic employment. It is a “win-win” strategy that is easy to convince Mr. Trump.

Thai newspapers also said that neighboring ASEAN countries should learn from Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's visit to the US, pointing out the diplomatic efforts that have helped the two former enemy countries improve relations after more than four decades of freezing.

According to the newspaper, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's successful visit to the US was laid by early efforts by Vietnamese Ambassador to Washington Pham Quang Vinh, who actively approached the US President's team since last year.

“As the first to knock on the door, Vietnam has an influential voice on issues it cares about,” Bangkok Post commented.

According to the article, Vietnam has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), but now that the situation has changed (President Trump abandoned the TPP), it is likely that Vietnam and the US will start looking for a new bilateral trade agreement./.

According to VOV