HANOI — On Friday, Vietnam’s trade minister met with the U.S. Commerce Secretary and senators during a visit to the United States, pledging to reduce their trade imbalance and crack down on trade fraud and illegal transshipment as part of ongoing tariff talks.
Vietnam is working to avoid a 46% tariff and seeks official recognition as a market economy. Its $123 billion trade surplus with the US remains a major issue in negotiations.
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Trade Minister Nguyen Hong Dien met with US officials to push for fairer and more balanced trade relations.
Vietnam and the US recently wrapped up a second round of trade talks, as the Southeast Asian manufacturing hub aims to secure a deal to prevent the 46% tariff on Vietnamese goods, which was mainly imposed because of its large trade surplus with Washington.
During discussions with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Minister Dien also called for Vietnam to be recognized soon as a market economy and for removal from the U.S. strategic export control lists, the ministry reported.
Although Vietnam has been one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies for two decades and has multiple free-trade agreements, the US still classifies it as a non-market economy. Hanoi argues it has made enough reforms to justify an upgrade.
The US remains Vietnam’s largest export market, with last year’s trade surplus topping $123 billion—a gap Hanoi says it is committed to reducing.
“This would bring practical benefits to both countries and help improve bilateral trade in a fairer, more harmonious and more sustainable manner,” the ministry said.
Dien also met separately with U.S. senators Ted Cruz and Steve Daines, promising to promote more balanced bilateral trade during their talks.
