The announcement was made on the sidelines of the ongoing 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which was attended by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and US President Donald Trump.

According to the joint statement, both countries agreed on key principles of the reciprocal trade framework, aiming to facilitate broad market access for each other’s goods.

Under the agreement, Vietnam will extend market access and preferential treatment for the majority of US industrial and agricultural products. The United States will maintain a 20% reciprocal tariff on certain Vietnamese-origin goods, while considering zero tariffs for selected products.

Both sides committed to addressing non-tariff barriers affecting bilateral trade in prioritized areas. Vietnam will, for instance, accept vehicles meeting US emission standards, streamline medical equipment approvals, simplify procedures for pharmaceutical and agricultural products, and fully implement its international intellectual property obligations.

The countries also pledged to prevent barriers to US agricultural exports in Vietnam, including establishing a joint certification recognition mechanism agreed upon by both regulatory authorities.

The United States and Vietnam have agreed to enhance cooperation toward shared goals of improving the resilience of supply chains, including addressing trade evasion and coordinating export controls.

In addition, both sides acknowledged recent commercial agreements between US and Vietnamese businesses in the agriculture, aerospace, and energy sectors, reflecting a commitment to promoting substantive and sustainable economic and trade cooperation.

The announcement highlighted several major commercial agreements, including Vietnam Airlines’ purchase of 50 Boeing aircraft valued at over US$8 billion, and 20 memoranda of understanding signed between US and Vietnamese companies for the purchase of US agricultural products, totaling approximately US$2.9 billion.

The joint statement noted that in the coming weeks, Vietnam and the United States will finalise technical details and complete necessary procedures to formally sign the agreement and bring it into effect.

The reciprocal trade agreement will build upon and further develop the long-standing economic relationship between the two countries, including the US–Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement, which was signed in 2000 and came into effect in 2001.

Following the US announcement to postpone the implementation of reciprocal tariffs and its agreement to initiate negotiations with Vietnam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh established a government negotiation team, with Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien serving as the head of the delegation. Since early May, Vietnam’s technical-level negotiation team has been engaging with relevant US agencies on bilateral trade talks.

On August 1, the White House published a Presidential Proclamation by Donald Trump adjusting reciprocal tariff rates for 69 countries and territories listed in Annex I. Under this annex, the reciprocal tariff for Vietnam was slashed from 46% to 20%.

According to data from Vietnam Customs, as of the end of September 2025, two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and the United States reached approximately US$126.4 billion.

Vietnam and United States to soon sign reciprocal trade agreement

VOV.VN - Vietnam and the United States have agreed to accelerate the signing of a reciprocal trade agreement, aiming to ensure fairness, balance, and stronger bilateral trade and investment cooperation, marking an important step forward in their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.