Without the deal, Vietnamese products entering the United States would have been subject to a 46 percent blanket tariff from Aug. 1.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the trade deal between the United States and Vietnam was nearly complete, the same day he announced a new deal with Indonesia.
Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews near Washington, Trump said he could disclose details of the Vietnam deal but did not believe it was necessary.
“I don’t think it matters how much you release of the deal. We have a Vietnam deal, and I would say that that deal is being pretty well set,” the president said.
Trump confirmed on July 2 that he had reached an initial trade deal with Vietnam that would see the Southeast Asian country pay a 20 percent tariff rate on goods sent to the United States and a 40 percent levy on any transshipping.
In exchange, Vietnam would provide the United States with access to its market for trade with zero tariffs.
Without the deal, Vietnamese products entering the United States would have been subject to a 46 percent blanket tariff on Aug. 1, the tariff deadline.
According to the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office, the U.S. trade deficit with Vietnam was $123.5 billion in 2024, up 18.1 percent from the year before.
Reciprocal Tariffs
The Trump administration announced on April 2 that dozens of countries would be subject to reciprocal tariffs to correct what the president has described as unfair trade practices at the expense of the United States.
Those tariffs were meant to come into effect on April 9, but Trump later introduced a 90-day pause, which was then extended to Aug. 1, to allow more time for negotiations.
Part of these discussions has been asking countries to curb transshipments, mostly carried out by China. This is the practice of taking Chinese goods, minimally altering them, and then rerouting them through a third country—like Vietnam—to the United States, which allows Beijing to bypass direct U.S tariffs.
China is Vietnam’s largest source of imports, while the United States is its top export destination.
Taiwanese economist Edward Huang told The Epoch Times on July 3 that other countries were watching the development of the U.S.–Vietnam trade deal, “because everyone knows that Vietnam is China’s most important transit point for its transshipment practices.”
Huang said such two-tiered trade deals could become a norm in international trade, saying: “For example, the trade deals between the United States and the UK will be the model for the European Union. Countries with similar industrial structures to Vietnam will also use Vietnam’s deal as a model to negotiate with the United States, which will become a new rule for international trade.”
