Vietnam stands ready to import more farm products from the United States, according to a statement from trade minister Nguyen Hong Dien on Friday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would start imposing global reciprocal tariffs.
The Southeast Asian export hub, home to manufacturing operations of multinationals including Apple (AAPL.O) and Samsung (005930.KS), could be hit hard by any new tariffs. Last year, it posted a record $123.5 billion trade surplus with the U.S., the largest after China, the European Union and Mexico.
"Vietnam is ready to open its market and increase imports of agricultural products from the United States," Dien told U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper at a meeting this week, the Vietnamese government said on Friday.
More than one-fourth of U.S. exports to Vietnam last year were agricultural products, mostly cotton, soybeans and tree nuts, for a total value of $3.4 billion, according to U.S. government data.
A White House official, who spoke to reporters on Thursday before Trump ordered his team to devise a plan on reciprocal tariffs, said the administration would study countries with the biggest trade surpluses and highest tariffs first.
Among top U.S. trading partners, Vietnam is one of the countries with the largest tariff gaps, charging higher import duties than those applied by the United States.
Vietnam imposes average import duties of 9.4%, according to the World Trade Organisation.
Last week, the government of the export-reliant country, whose largest market is the United States, set up a working group to address any rising risks from trade tensions.
ADDRESSING TRADE GAPS
Trump has not explicitly mentioned Vietnam as a trade target, but new 25% tariffs imposed this week by the U.S. on steel and aluminium have already hit the Southeast Asian nation.
Many of Vietnam's steel exports to the U.S., however, had already faced 25% duties, making that blow less heavy than on other exporters, one industry official said.
For Vietnamese aluminium, pre-existing U.S. tariffs had been at 10%, Do Ngoc Hung, Vietnam's trade representative in the United States, told Vietnamese state media.
To reduce the trade surplus, Vietnamese officials have discussed with the Trump administration the possible purchase of U.S. liquefied natural gas, multiple officials said.
Vietnamese budget carrier VietJet (VJC.HM) has also agreed to buy 200 Boeing (BA.N) 737 MAX jets in a multi-billion dollar deal first signed in 2016 and revised afterwards. No plane has yet been delivered although the company had said it expected to receive the first jets last year.
Vietnam has also been in talks to buy Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) C-130 Hercules military transport planes, officials have said.
The Trump Organization has also agreed to develop a $1.5 billion golf course in Vietnam, its local partner said in October.
