Vietnam and the US held their first high-level talks on Friday as Washington prepares to impose a 46% tariff on Vietnamese imports, a move that could severely affect Vietnam’s economic growth.
The Vietnamese trade ministry said in a statement released on Saturday that the meeting, which occurred in Jeju, South Korea, following the 31st APEC Ministerial Meeting on Trade, symbolised both nations’ commitment to fostering a stable economic, trade, and investment relationship.
Meeting Follows Dien-Greer Call
The talks follow a phone call last month between Vietnamese trade minister Nguyen Hong Dien and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that officially started negotiations.
“USTR Greer agreed with Vietnam’s current approach and proposal,” the trade ministry’s statement said. “The United States hopes that with the mutual efforts, the technical-level negotiations in the coming days will yield positive results.”
The US has postponed the implementation of the 46% tariff on Vietnam until July. If enforced, the levy could disrupt growth in Vietnam, which is heavily dependent on sales to the United States, its largest export market, and substantial foreign investments in manufacturing goods for export.
4th Largest Trade Surplus
Vietnam has the fourth-largest trade surplus among all US trading partners, worth $123.5 billion last year.
In an attempt to diminish that trade surplus, Hanoi has recently implemented several measures, including reducing tariffs on a multitude of goods destined for the US and intensifying its efforts to curb the shipment of Chinese goods to the US via its territory.
Hanoi Approves Trump
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese government has approved a plan by the Trump Organization and a partner to invest $1.5 billion in golf courses, hotels and real estate projects in the Southeast Asian country, the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper reported on Friday.
The project, planned on 990 hectares (2,446 acres) of land, will feature a complex of golf courses, resorts, hotels, and a modern residential project.
The investment is expected to start this quarter and run until the second quarter of 2029, the newspaper said, citing a document signed by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha.
(With inputs from Reuters)
