Working with Vietnam on tariffs, what did the US Secretary of Commerce say?

On May 22, in Washington DC, Minister of Industry and Trade, Head of the Government Negotiation Delegation Nguyen Hong Dien had a working session with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to promote bilateral economic and trade cooperation and discuss the negotiation process of the Reciprocal Trade Agreement between the two countries.

At the meeting, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien affirmed that Vietnam has a large and stable demand for US products, equipment and services, especially in the fields of high technology and energy.

Vietnam is committed to promoting a transparent and healthy trade environment and is ready to strengthen coordination with the United States in preventing trade fraud, origin fraud, and illegal transshipment.

With the orientation of becoming a high-income developed country by 2035, Vietnam identifies the United States as one of its leading strategic partners and wishes to promote economic and trade relations in a balanced, sustainable and mutually beneficial direction.

Minister Nguyen Hong Dien suggested that the United States and Vietnam work together to resolve current economic and trade issues, promptly recognize Vietnam as a market economy, and remove Vietnam from the D1 and D3 lists - groups that apply restrictions on high-tech exports to Vietnam. According to him, this will contribute to bringing practical benefits to the two countries and improving the trade balance in a fair, harmonious, and sustainable manner.

US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick appreciated Vietnam's efforts and goodwill in negotiating the bilateral agreement on reciprocal trade. He welcomed the two countries' increased cooperation in high-tech and value-added sectors.

Vietnam is an important and attractive market for US businesses, Minister Howard Lutnick affirmed, and hopes that Vietnam will continue to facilitate US investment projects, contributing to expanding two-way trade turnover, especially encouraging increased imports of goods from the US to Vietnam.

Both sides agreed to continue promoting technical dialogue and maintaining high-level exchanges to soon achieve substantive progress in negotiations, towards building a stable and long-term economic and trade cooperation framework.

Previously, on May 21, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien met and worked with Senator Ted Cruz - Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and Senator Steve Daines - member of the Senate Finance and Foreign Affairs Committees.

At the working sessions, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said that Vietnam always creates favorable conditions for US businesses to invest and do business effectively and suggested that the US consider Vietnam a priority trade partner in the context that the two countries have officially upgraded their relationship to the level of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Regarding the bilateral trade negotiation process, the Minister affirmed that Vietnam is ready to closely coordinate with the US side towards a trade agreement based on the principles of respecting sovereignty , balancing interests, in accordance with international commitments and the development level of each side. He also asked the senators to support and promote this process.

On the US side, senators highly appreciated the development potential of the Vietnamese market, especially in the fields of industry, energy, high technology and digital economy.

The senators said many large US businesses are closely following Vietnam's investment policies and environment, and have expressed their desire to expand their business activities and make long-term investments in this strategic market in the Asia- Pacific region.

The two sides expect that the comprehensive cooperation relationship between Vietnam and the United States will continue to be strengthened and developed, especially in the context of the global economy strongly restructuring the supply chain and expanding to dynamic and stable markets like Vietnam.

(According to Vietnamnet)

Source: https://baoyenbai.com.vn/12/350701/Lam-viec-voi-phia-Viet-Nam-ve-thue-quan-Bo-truong-thuong-mai-Hoa-Ky-noi-gi.aspx