Vietnam says more tariff negotiations with US needed

HANOI: The United States and Vietnam have concluded a second round of trade negotiations on tariffs and agreed to continue the talks to address unresolved issues, Vietnam's trade ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

AI Brief

Vietnam and the US held trade talks in Washington from May 19-22, making progress but needing further discussion.
Some issues reached near consensus, but others require more negotiation, with talks to continue in early June.
Vietnam, hit by a high 46 pct US tariff, benefits from a temporary global pause on these duties until July.

The second round of talks took place in Washington on May 19-22 involving Vietnam's Trade Minister Nguyen Hong Dien and the U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, the Vietnamese ministry said on its website showing pictures of meetings.

"At the end of the negotiation round, Vietnam and the United States made positive progress, identifying groups of issues on which consensus was close, and groups of issues that needed further discussion to reach consensus in the coming time," the statement said, without elaborating.

It noted that talks will need to continue in early June.

The U.S. Trade Representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment outside of U.S. business hours.

Vietnam heavily relies on exports to the United States and faces one of the highest "reciprocal" tariff rates set by the White House at 46%.

Those duties have been paused globally by Washington until July.