US tax hike: Ministry of Finance will add many new solutions

Faced with the reciprocal tax policy from the United States, Vietnam urgently promoted negotiations and implemented many solutions to support businesses in export and finance.

Reciprocal tax rates affect many products

On the morning of April 8, in Hanoi, Tien Phong Newspaper organized a discussion on "Responding to US reciprocal taxes" with the participation of leaders of many ministries, sectors, and economic experts.

Previously, on the afternoon of April 2, US President Donald Trump announced a new policy to impose a basic tax of 10% on all goods from countries from April 5 and reciprocal tax on 60 countries from April 9, of which Vietnam is at 46% - in the group of countries with high tax rates.

Seminar scene

At the seminar, Mr. Phung Cong Suong - Editor-in-Chief of Tien Phong Newspaper, the moderator of the seminar - emphasized: " The United States is currently the second largest trading partner and the most important export market of Vietnam, when the bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and the United States in 2024 reached nearly 150 billion USD (up 20.5% over the same period last year) and the trade surplus reached 123.5 billion USD, belonging to the group of 3 countries with large trade surpluses with the United States ".

At the seminar, Ms. Le Hang - Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) - commented that immediately after receiving information that US President Donald Trump imposed a 46% reciprocal tax on Vietnam's export products, businesses in the seafood industry were worried.

According to Ms. Le Hang, at the time President Donald Trump announced the tax, Vietnam had nearly 40,000 tons of seafood on the way to the US and businesses were concerned about whether these goods would be immediately subject to a 46% tax. Because Vietnamese seafood products exported to the US are not only subject to a 46% tax but also subject to many other taxes such as subsidy tax, anti-dumping tax, etc., the total tax to be paid is up to 75%.

"Vietnamese seafood businesses are worried about how signed contracts will be recalculated with the new reciprocal tax rate. Currently, many businesses in the industry have stopped signing contracts and temporarily suspended exports, which leads to them having to pay fines for breaching contracts, " Ms. Le Hang informed.

Ms. Le Hang - Deputy General Secretary of Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Meanwhile, financial and banking expert Nguyen Tri Hieu said that the US announcement of imposing a 46% reciprocal tax on Vietnamese goods not only affects exports but also impacts the financial sector, foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, real estate market, gold, etc.

" In my opinion, we need to have transparency when exporting to the US, avoid dumping to support exports, and have clear and transparent specifications for Vietnamese products. We hope for more optimistic developments but are ready for the worst case scenario ," said Mr. Nguyen Tri Hieu.

Finance and banking expert Nguyen Tri Hieu

The government proactively supports businesses

Commenting on the issue of responding to the US tariff policy, Mr. Pham Quang Vinh - former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs , former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Vietnam to the United States - informed that right after the US announced the imposition of a 46% reciprocal tax on Vietnam's exports to the United States, General Secretary To Lam had a phone call with US President Donald Trump. This phone call from Vietnam was highly appreciated by the US side and even President Donald Trump posted it on social media and had a positive view.

" We also have reason to be optimistic that this phone call shows that from the beginning Vietnam has had the right foreign policy and direction, aiming to create harmonious interests between the United States and Vietnam ," said Mr. Pham Quang Vinh.

Further analyzing the trade relationship between the two countries, Mr. Pham Quang Vinh commented that, in general, Vietnamese goods exported to the United States do not compete directly with domestic goods of the United States, so cooperation between Vietnam and the United States will bring great benefits to consumers and the US Government.

Mr. Pham Quang Vinh - former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Vietnam to the United States

" Right now, the Special Envoy of General Secretary To Lam and Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc are in the US to negotiate on reciprocal taxes. If this achieves good results, the US may postpone the date of imposing a 46% reciprocal tax on goods from Vietnam so that the two countries can negotiate further. The purpose of the special envoy is not only to resolve problems on reciprocal taxes but also an opportunity for Vietnam to seek opportunities and call for investment cooperation from US businesses related to the fields of technology, oil and gas, national security and defense, and civil aviation, " said Mr. Pham Quang Vinh.

Regarding supporting businesses to adapt to fluctuations, Mr. Mai Son - Deputy Director of the Tax Department, Ministry of Finance - said: " From the perspective of a state management agency, the Ministry of Finance has a proactive plan. Based on the Government's macro management, in recent times, we have proactively proposed policies, creating momentum for the economy in general and domestic enterprises. That has partly shared the current pressure on businesses facing the US's reciprocal tax rate ."

According to Mr. Mai Son, the Government has issued Decree 73/2025/ND-CP amending and supplementing preferential import tax rates for a number of items in the Import Tariff, including the United States, with many tax lines at 0%.

" Accordingly, there are 16 groups of imported goods to Vietnam that have reduced taxes such as cars, agricultural products, coal, wood, etc. This is a great goodwill step from the beginning of the Vietnamese Government in its efforts to balance the trade balance between the two countries, helping Vietnamese consumers increase their use of imported goods from the United States ," said Mr. Mai Son.

Mr. Mai Son added that in order to respond to the decision from the US and promote double-digit GDP growth as the Government's target, the Ministry of Finance has come up with more specific solutions. Regarding tax management for FDI enterprises, the Ministry of Finance will strengthen inspection and examination, especially with signs of transfer pricing, transit country company relations, and taking advantage of Vietnam's policy as a transit point to evade taxes.

Mr. Mai Son - Deputy Director of Tax Department, Ministry of Finance

At the same time, build a shared database with the US tax authorities, creating a basis for the two sides to effectively coordinate to prevent cross-border tax fraud. Other tax policies such as corporate income tax have many solutions that can be shared in the near future...

" We have strict sanctions for violations. The Ministry of Finance was assigned by the Central Government to develop a project on private economic development, and the tax authority is a unit in this project. Also to create momentum for businesses, we are researching to promote and boost the private economic sector, focusing on two major areas: institutional policies and administrative procedures ," said Mr. Mai Son.

Regarding the issue of Vietnam-US bilateral trade relations, on April 4, General Secretary To Lam had a phone call with US President Donald Trump, saying he was ready to negotiate with the US to reduce import tax to 0% on goods imported from the US and proposed that the US apply a similar tax rate on goods imported from Vietnam.

Le An

Source: https://congthuong.vn/hoa-ky-tang-thuebo-tai-chinh-se-them-nhieu-giai-phap-moi-381967.html