President Donald Trump declared on Wednesday that the United States has reached a preliminary trade deal with Vietnam, marking the administration’s third major deal ahead of its July 9 deadline for tariff negotiations.
“I just made a Trade Deal with Vietnam,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump stated that Vietnam will face a 20% tariff on all goods imported into the United States, along with a 40% tariff on items transshipped through Vietnam from other nations. Although these rates are lower than the originally proposed reciprocal tariffs, they represent an increase compared to the reduced rates Vietnam benefited from during the recent three-month suspension.
According to a draft joint statement cited by Politico, Vietnam has agreed to allow a broader range of U.S. imports into its market, including products that Hanoi had previously restricted.
The president said that the agreement was finalized following talks with Communist Party leader To Lam.
“In other words, they will ‘OPEN THEIR MARKET TO THE UNITED STATES,’ meaning that, we will be able to sell our product into Vietnam at ZERO Tariff,” Trump added.
The trade agreement with Vietnam marks the Trump administration’s first formal deal to suspend its proposed ‘reciprocal’ tariffs ranging from 20% to 50%, which are set to take effect on July 9. Prior to this, the White House had established a framework deal with the United Kingdom, which is exempt from those tariffs, and reached an arrangement with China to delay the implementation of triple-digit duties until August.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that during Wednesday’s call, President Trump pledged to collaborate on resolving bilateral trade challenges while Party chief To Lam urged the United States to recognize Vietnam as a market economy and remove export restrictions on select high-tech goods.
As per the draft agreement, the United States and Vietnam plan to finalize a trade deal in the coming weeks, which is expected to lower U.S. tariffs on Vietnamese imports.
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