Vietnam and the United States agree to launch negotiations on a reciprocal trade agreement.
On the afternoon of April 9th (local time), as part of his visit to the United States as a Special Envoy of General Secretary To Lam to discuss bilateral economic and trade issues, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc affirmed that Vietnam wishes to continue strengthening and further deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership with the United States; thanked the US Government for always supporting a "strong, independent, self-reliant, and prosperous" Vietnam; and emphasized that Vietnam is committed to building an independent and self-reliant economy, and to pursuing an independent, self-reliant, multilateral, and diversified foreign policy.
Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc affirmed that Vietnam wishes to work with relevant US agencies to concretize the contents of the exchanges between General Secretary To Lam and US President Donald Trump on April 4, 2025, thereby continuing to maintain stable and sustainable economic and trade relations for the benefit of businesses and people of both countries.
The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that, in recent times, Vietnam has proactively implemented many measures to help resolve the trade deficit between the two sides, addressing the concerns of the United States; accordingly, the imposition of high tariffs by the United States on Vietnamese exports is inconsistent with the mutually beneficial economic and trade relations between the two countries and does not accurately reflect the spirit of the Vietnam-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
The Deputy Prime Minister suggested that, although the United States has decided to postpone the tariffs for 90 days, the two countries should soon negotiate a bilateral trade agreement to create a long-term framework to promote stable, mutually beneficial economic and trade relations, in line with the framework of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer highly appreciated the visit of Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc as Special Envoy of General Secretary To Lam, expressing gratitude and appreciation for Vietnam's positive and proactive steps, demonstrating Vietnam's commitment to promoting Vietnam-U.S. economic and trade relations.
The U.S. Trade Representative affirmed that the United States highly values its bilateral relationship with Vietnam and wishes to cooperate closely to address the trade deficit, aiming for an increasingly deeper relationship in various fields.
The U.S. Trade Representative shared the reasons and challenges facing the U.S. economy that compelled the Trump administration to implement the recent tariff policy, explaining that the high tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Vietnam were due to the large trade deficit the U.S. had with Vietnam.
The United States agreed that both sides would begin negotiations on a reciprocal trade agreement, which would include agreements on tariffs, and proposed that technical exchanges between the two sides begin immediately.
Both sides agreed to continue to coordinate closely to promote a favorable business environment, proactively review and consider minimizing non-tariff barriers for each other's goods, facilitate US businesses to increase investment and business in Vietnam, and strengthen coordination in controlling and preventing trade fraud.
During his two-day visit to the United States (April 8-9, 2025), Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc met with Senator Bill Hagerty (Republican – Tennessee), Senator Steve Daines (Republican – Montana), and numerous US organizations and businesses.
Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc highly appreciated the support of the US Congress and individual senators for Vietnam-US relations, expressing pleasure at the positive developments in Vietnam-US relations after the two countries established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and emphasizing the significance of 2025 as the 30th anniversary of the normalization of relations between the two countries.
Regarding bilateral economic and trade relations, the Deputy Prime Minister stated that the Vietnam-US relationship is complementary; Vietnam does not compete with the US's strong export products and imports many high-tech products, services, and technologies from the US; recently, Vietnam has proactively addressed many of the US's concerns.
The Deputy Prime Minister requested that the US Congress continue to support and speak out in favor of the US lifting tariffs on Vietnamese goods, and support negotiations and exchanges between the two countries to soon reach a long-term, sustainable bilateral trade cooperation agreement that meets the interests of the people and businesses of both countries.
The two Senators recalled fond memories of their visits to Vietnam; they expressed their hope that Vietnam-US relations would continue to develop further and make a positive contribution to peace and stability in the region and the world.
The two Senators highly appreciated Vietnam's proactive approach in handling tariff issues with the United States; affirmed their support for Vietnam-US trade relations based on the overall strategic interests of the two countries; and expressed confidence that Vietnam and the United States would soon initiate negotiations and find solutions to promote stable and mutually beneficial economic and trade relations in the future.
During his time in the United States, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc also held numerous meetings with groups of experts, intellectuals, and major businesses from both the United States and Vietnam. Among these meetings was the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Cooperation between Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company and Air Finance of the United States.
