Vietnam, US to negotiate reciprocal trade agreement

On the afternoon of April 9, local time, Deputy Prime Minister Hu Defu, who went to the United States as a special envoy of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Su Lin to discuss bilateral economic and trade issues, met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Greer said that the U.S. side agreed to negotiate a reciprocal trade agreement between the two sides.

ZaloFacebookTwitterPrintCopy link

VNA Washington – According to a report from VNA’s correspondent in Washington, on the afternoon of April 9 local time, Deputy Prime Minister Hu Defu, who visited the United States as a special envoy of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lin, met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

Hu Defu stressed that Vietnam hopes to continue to strengthen and deepen its comprehensive strategic partnership with the United States; thanked the US government for always supporting a “strong, independent, self-reliant and prosperous” Vietnam; stressed that Vietnam insists on building an independent and autonomous economy and unswervingly pursues an independent, autonomous, multilateral and diversified foreign policy. Hu Defu stressed that Vietnam hopes to communicate and consult with relevant US agencies to further concretize the content exchanged by General Secretary Tou Lin and US President Trump during the phone call on April 4, so as to continue to maintain stable and sustainable economic and trade relations and bring benefits to the companies and people of both countries. Hu Defu stressed that recently, Vietnam has taken the initiative to implement a number of measures to help solve the bilateral trade deficit and meet the concerns of the United States; at the same time, he said that the United States’ imposition of higher tariffs on Vietnamese exports is not in line with the mutually beneficial economic and trade relations between the two countries and is inconsistent with the spirit of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and the United States. Hu Defu suggested that although the United States has decided to postpone the implementation of the new tariffs for 90 days, the two sides need to negotiate a bilateral trade as soon as possible to create a long-term framework for promoting stable, mutually beneficial and reciprocal economic and trade relations in line with the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer highly praised Hu Defu’s visit to the United States as General Secretary Thu Lin’s special envoy, and highly praised Vietnam’s proactive measures, which showed Vietnam’s commitment to promoting economic and trade relations between the United States and Vietnam. Greer stressed that Vietnam attaches great importance to bilateral relations with Vietnam and hopes to maintain close cooperation with Vietnam to solve the trade deficit problem and move towards a relationship that is deepening and solid in all areas. He also shared the reasons that forced the Trump administration to introduce new tariff policies recently and the challenges facing the U.S. economy, explaining that the Trump administration’s new tariffs on Vietnam are the result of the large trade deficit between the United States and Vietnam. The U.S. side unanimously agreed to negotiate a reciprocal trade agreement between the two sides, which will include an agreement on tariffs, and suggested that technical personnel at all levels of both sides immediately hold consultations.

The two sides agreed to maintain close cooperation, promote a convenient business environment, proactively verify and review, and minimize non-tariff barriers on the two countries’ goods, create convenient conditions for American companies to increase investment and business in Vietnam, and strengthen cooperation in controlling and preventing commercial fraud.

During his visit to the United States from April 8 to 9, Deputy Prime Minister Hudford met with Republican Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana, and many American organizations and companies.

Hoodford highly appreciated the support of the US Congress and individual senators for the Vietnam-US relations. He also emphasized the positive development momentum of the bilateral relations since the establishment of the strategic partnership between Vietnam and the United States in 2005, and stressed the significance of 2025 as the year to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the normalization of relations between the two countries. Regarding bilateral economic and trade relations, Hoodford believed that the Vietnam-US relations are complementary. Vietnam does not compete with the superior goods of the United States and imports many high-tech products and services from the United States. Recently, Vietnam has taken the initiative to address many concerns of the United States. Hoodford suggested that the US Congress continue to support and speak out to promote the lifting of tariffs on Vietnamese goods by the United States, support the two countries to negotiate and reach a long-term bilateral trade cooperation agreement as soon as possible, and bring benefits to the people and enterprises of both countries.

The two senators recalled the good memories of their visit to Vietnam and hoped that the Vietnam-US relations would continue to develop and contribute to regional and world peace and stability. They highly appreciated Vietnam’s measures to resolve the tariff issue with the United States and stressed their support for the Vietnam-US trade relationship based on the overall strategic interests of the bilateral relationship. They also expressed their belief that Vietnam and the United States will start the negotiation process as soon as possible and find measures to promote a stable, mutually beneficial and reciprocal economic and trade relationship between the two countries in the future.

During his stay in the United States, Hu Defu also communicated with various experts and intellectual groups in the United States and Vietnam, as well as major American companies, including witnessing the exchange of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between representatives of Vietjet Air and Air Finance of the United States. (End)

zh.vietnamplus.vn