Vietnam Chases US Deals as Top Official Flies to Meet Trump Team

Vietnam’s top trade official is heading to the US in a bid to persuade President Donald Trump’s team that Hanoi is serious about resetting trade ties, to avert tariffs that could rattle its export-driven economy.

Trade minister Nguyen Hong Dien is set to meet US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, as well as the US Trade Representative, to work on bilateral trade agreements, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak about the trip. Discussions on energy deals, preventing origin of product fraud and tariff evasion are also expected to be on the agenda, the people said.

The US ran a $123.5 billion trade deficit with Vietnam in 2024, according to the Office of the USTR, drawing attention to the country as Trump’s America First agenda relies on tariffs as part of a strategy to rectify what it sees as unfair trade policies. 

The trade deficit is the third highest gap for the US, behind China and Mexico. Some of it comes down to re-routing, with Chinese companies setting up shop elsewhere to skirt tariffs. Vietnam overtook Japan as China’s third-largest export destination for the first time in 2024, putting the country at the forefront of the economic conflict between the two superpowers.

Vietnam lists China and the US as its two top trading partners and is looking to keep good relations with both, which benefit its economy. The Southeast Asian nation is one of a litany of countries dispatching envoys to the US to seek exemption from possible tariffs.

“The question is what the US really wants from Vietnam,” said Le Hong Hiep, a senior fellow at the Vietnam Studies Program of ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. This could include working together on rare earth production, Hiep added. 

Vietnam has the world’s second-largest reserves of rare earth minerals with about 22 million tons, just behind China, according to the US Geological Survey. 

Such minerals have come into focus as Trump has sought them from Ukraine in exchange for American support for Kyiv as it fights off invading Russian forces. Rare earths are among the most critical raw materials on the planet, deeply embedded in the technologies that underpin modern life.

Vietnam has also sought to placate the Trump administration with promises to buy big-ticket US items such as aircraft, liquefied natural gas and high-tech products. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has urged his officials to green-light Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service and has even said he’s willing to play golf all day long with Trump if that would help.

Vietnam said last month it is “ready to open its market” to American goods and welcome US investors to participate in energy projects and mining.

An agreement to purchase LNG from the US has been mooted for years, as the nation seeks to move away from other fossil fuels. But if a deal is done, there may be delays before Vietnam can start importing any US LNG due to logistics and infrastructure challenges.

Also on the table is the prospect of increasing US agricultural imports. Vietnam is currently the ninth-largest market for US farm products, importing items such as beef, soybeans, and more than two million boxes of American apples a year, according to a trade ministry statement last month.

As the Trump administration ramps up its trade fight with Beijing, the US could be seeking closer cooperation when it comes to dealing with the threat from China, such as greater American access to Vietnamese naval facilities in the South China Sea. 

“They may also want Vietnam to buy American weapons,” ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s Hiep said. “That’s in line with the American goal of containing China, even though Vietnam will still want to maintain good ties with China.”

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