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Vietnam
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After Vietnam, only China and Mexico have larger US trade deficits – and the US is peeved

Donald Trump’s trade officials are pushing Vietnam to open up its markets and improve its trade balance with the United States

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A forklift operator works at Tan Vu port in Hai Phong, Vietnam. The US ran a US$123.5 billion trade deficit with Vietnam in 2024. Photo: AFP
Bloomberg
Vietnam’s top trade official has been told by US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that his country must improve its trade balance with the United States and further open up its markets.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien, in a Thursday meeting in Washington with Greer, said his government is weighing the removal of “trade barriers” for American companies and will crack down on export fraud, according to a statement on the ministry’s website.

Vietnam later announced a number of deals between Vietnamese and US companies with an expected total value of US$4.15 billion, according to a statement on the website of state-owned PetroVietnam Power. No financial details were provided about individual agreements.

Vietnam needs to have stronger solutions to open up its market and improve the trade balance between the two countries, Greer told Dien, according to the ministry statement.

Vietnam’s Industry and Trade Minister Nguyen Hong Dien (left) and Communist Party General Secretary To Lam (right) in Indonesia earlier this month. Photo: AFP
Vietnam’s Industry and Trade Minister Nguyen Hong Dien (left) and Communist Party General Secretary To Lam (right) in Indonesia earlier this month. Photo: AFP
The US ran a US$123.5 billion trade deficit with Vietnam in 2024, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative. The gap is drawing attention to the country because President Donald Trump’s “America first” agenda relies on tariffs as part of a strategy to rectify what he sees as unfair trade policies.
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