Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between Vietnam and the United States: Waiting for positive signals from negotiations

Warehouse at the manufacturing plant of Cargill Group (USA) in Dong Nai . Photo: N.Lien

The Agreement was signed on July 7, 2015, in Washington (USA). However, after 10 years of signing, the Agreement has not yet come into effect because since 2017, the United States has made major policy reforms, so the Agreement between the two countries has not been ratified. The discussion on the Agreement took place in the context of the United States requesting that countries that have signed Agreements with the United States amend and supplement the signed Agreement, including Vietnam.

Create a solid legal corridor

With more than 130 delegates representing more than 100 businesses spanning many fields, the Vietnamese delegation became one of the three international business delegations with the largest number of participants at the 2025 US Investment Summit.

Here, the Vietnamese delegation had bilateral discussions and working sessions with government agencies, financial institutions, and large US economic corporations such as Intel and Meta. Among them, the discussion and acceleration of the signing of the Agreement to create a solid legal corridor for businesses of the two countries was one of the important contents of the delegation.

According to the Department of Industry and Trade, the United States is Dong Nai's largest export market. In the past 5 years, exports to the United States accounted for more than 30% of the province's total export turnover.

According to information from the Ministry of Finance , during the discussion, representatives of both sides clarified their views and positions on the draft protocol proposed by the United States. From there, relevant agencies of the two countries will continue to review and revise it to submit to competent authorities.

The approval of the Agreement between Vietnam and the United States will create a legal framework to encourage and protect businesses of the two countries when conducting business or investing in the other country.

In Vietnam, during the US Investment Summit 2025, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a meeting with representatives of the US business community investing and doing business in Vietnam to listen to, resolve difficulties, and propose solutions to promote investment and business cooperation between Vietnam and the US. Through the meeting, many US businesses expressed their desire to continue investing and have long-term ties with Vietnam.

Opportunities for Vietnamese and US investors

According to data from the Foreign Investment Agency (Ministry of Finance), by the end of April 2025, the United States had nearly 1,500 valid investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of nearly 12 billion USD. US investors focus on the following industries: semiconductor technology; processing and manufacturing industry; logistics; real estate, etc.

Vietnam has 252 investment projects in the United States with a total investment capital of 1.36 billion USD. Vietnam's investment projects are concentrated in professional activities, science and technology, real estate, processing and manufacturing industries...

According to the Dong Nai Industrial Parks Management Board, the United States has 32 investment projects in industrial parks in the province with a total registered capital of over 361 million USD. The United States ranks 13th out of 48 countries and territories with registered investment capital in Dong Nai. US investment projects create jobs for more than 7,300 workers. US corporations have invested in the province such as: PepsiCo, Cohetent, Dow, Cargill...

Nguyen Tri Phuong, Head of Dong Nai Industrial Park Management Board, said that in recent years, Vietnam has been a strategic destination for the wave of supply chain shifts thanks to tariff incentives from signed bilateral and multilateral agreements. However, since early April 2025, the United States has announced reciprocal tax increases for more than 180 economies, of which Vietnam is among the countries subject to the highest tax rate of 46%, causing concern for many businesses.

In response to the reciprocal tax policy from the United States, in addition to negotiations between the two countries, the Dong Nai Industrial Park Management Board has proposed that the Provincial People's Committee direct departments, branches and organizations to support enterprises through a number of key activities such as: promoting trade promotion, supporting enterprises to find new alternative markets such as Europe, Japan and ASEAN countries, the Middle East, Latin America... to help enterprises find new export opportunities. Researching potential export markets, at the same time providing information on international trade policies and free trade agreements that Vietnam participates in, helping enterprises take advantage of these opportunities to minimize the impact of increased taxes from the United States.

In addition to the above solutions, businesses of the two countries expect that the discussion on the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement between Vietnam and the United States will achieve positive results, thus trade between the two countries will continue to expand, bringing benefits to both sides.

Ngoc Lien

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/kinh-te/202505/hiep-dinh-tranh-danh-thue-2-lan-giua-viet-nam-va-hoa-ky-cho-tin-hieu-tich-cuc-tu-dam-phan-a9562cc/