United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the United States will place a lower-than-promised 20% tariff on many Vietnamese exports.
Trump’s announcement comes just days before a July 9 deadline before he ramps up tariffs on most imports, one of the Republican’s signature economic policies.
Under that plan, announced in April, U.S. importers of Vietnamese goods would have had to pay a 46% tariff.
Details were scant. It was not clear which products Trump’s 20% tariff would apply to, or whether some would qualify for lower or higher total duties.
Vietnam is the U.S.’s tenth-biggest trading partner.
Vietnamese goods would face a 20% tariff, and trans-shipments from third countries through Vietnam will face a 40% levy, he said, according to a Reuters report. Vietnam could import U.S. products with a zero per cent tariff, he added.
“It is my great honour to announce that I have just made a Trade Deal with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” Trump said on Truth Social after speaking with Vietnam’s top leader, To Lam.
Also left to later discussion was how the new trans-shipment provision, aimed at products largely made in China and then labelled “Made in Vietnam,” would be implemented and enforced.
The Vietnamese government did not confirm the specific tariff levels in a statement celebrating what it described as an agreement on a joint statement about a trade framework.
Vietnam would commit to “providing preferential market access for U.S. goods, including large-engine cars,” Reuters quoted the government in Hano
A deal between the two countries would be a political boost for Trump, whose team has struggled to quickly close deals with Washington’s biggest trading partners ahead of the deadline.
The U.S. is Vietnam’s largest export market, and the two countries’ growing economic, diplomatic and military ties are a hedge against Washington’s biggest strategic rival, China. Vietnam has worked to retain close relations with both superpowers.
Shares of major U.S. apparel and sportswear makers, including Nike, Under Armour, and North Face maker VF Corp on the news.
Lam also asked Trump for the U.S. to recognise Vietnam as a market economy and remove restrictions on the exports of high-tech products to the country, Vietnam said.