Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son said on Wednesday, November 12, that Vietnam is aiming to sign a trade deal with the United States shortly, as fresh negotiations begin in Washington.
The two nations decided in October to complete a trade agreement within a few weeks that would keep the United States' 20% tariff on Vietnamese goods at the same level while exempting a few unnamed goods from the new tariff that US President Donald Trump imposed in August.
At a Hanoi conference, Son called on American companies to assist in bilateral talks so that the two sides could "soon sign a fair and balanced trade agreement."
In a recorded statement, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Michael DeSombre told the conference that the trade agreement should balance trade flows between the two nations and lower the US deficit with Hanoi, which is the biggest after China and Mexico.
Based on Vietnamese data, which is typically more conservative than US trade figures and is currently unavailable due to an ongoing federal government shutdown, Vietnam has recorded a $111 billion trade surplus with the US for the first 10 months of the year, suggesting another possible annual record.
According to the Vietnamese Trade Ministry's website, a delegation headed by Trade Minister Nguyen Hong Dien is in Washington this week for fresh negotiations with American officials to finalize the trade deal.
Negotiations would concentrate on determining which Vietnamese goods, like coffee, could be exempt from US tariffs and the extent of the preferential access to the Vietnamese market that Hanoi has promised for American goods, like automobiles and agricultural products, according to a person briefed on the discussions.
The source, who wished to remain anonymous due to the confidentiality of the information, stated that the Vietnamese side sought to finalize the agreement by December, ideally following a ruling by the US Supreme Court regarding the legality of Trump's tariffs. It is anticipated that the court will rule sometime between the end of this year and the middle of 2026.
Several officials said that Vietnamese negotiators are eager to time a meeting between Trump and To Lam, the country's top leader, to coincide with the signing of a trade agreement.
During the conference on Wednesday, Son urged American companies to assist Vietnam in organizing the high-level gathering. Several officials say previous attempts have failed.
Additionally, he urged American companies to push Washington to acknowledge Vietnam as a market economy and remove its ban on the export of high-tech goods like cutting-edge semiconductors.
Vietnam may contribute to international supply chains for vital minerals, according to DeSombre. Despite having abundant rare earth and gallium resources, Vietnam has been slow to capitalize on them.
