US imposes 20% reciprocal tariffs on imports from Vietnam: trade ministry

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order imposing new reciprocal tariffs on imports from 69 countries and territories, with rates ranging from 10% to 41%. Vietnam was hit with a 20% levy.

According to the executive order, the reciprocal tax rate for Vietnam is reduced from 46% to 20%, Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) stated on its website at 4:40 p.m Friday.

In late April, after the U.S. announced a delay in imposing reciprocal tariffs and agreed to start negotiations with Vietnam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh established a Government Negotiation Delegation led by Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and directed the development of a negotiation plan.

"During the negotiation process, Vietnam and the U.S. focused on discussing and made significant progress on issues such as tariffs, rules of origin, customs, agriculture, non-tariff measures, digital trade, services and investment, intellectual property, sustainable development, supply chains, trade cooperation, etc.," the MoIT release noted.

"In the coming time, the two sides will continue to discuss and implement the following tasks towards completing an agreement on reciprocal trade based on the principles of openness, constructiveness, equality, respect, mutual benefit, and consideration of each other's development level," it said.

"The two sides will also strive to promote stable investment, trade and economic relations, with interests harmonized to be commensurate with the Vietnam-U.S. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership," the release added.

According to the executive order released by the White House, "certain foreign trading partners have agreed to, or are on the verge of concluding, meaningful trade and security agreements with the U.S. Goods of those trading partners will remain subject to the additional ad valorem duties until such time as those agreements are concluded.”

The executive order specifies newly agreed tariff rates with key trading partners, including the EU and Japan (15%), South Korea (15%), the Philippines (19%), and Indonesia (19%).

Syria was hit with the steepest tariff at 41%, while goods from Laos and Myanmar face a 40% levy. Switzerland and South Africa incur rates of 39% and 30%, respectively.

Some Asian countries that have yet to confirm trade deals with the U.S. are set to benefit from lower tariffs. The new rate on Thai imports was reduced to 19% from 36% announced in April.

Tariffs on Malaysian goods was cut to 19% from 24%. Brunei faces a 25% rate, and Cambodia 19%.

India is subject to a 25% tariff, while goods from Taiwan (China) faces a reduced rate of 20%, down from the 32% announced earlier.

“Goods of any foreign trading partner that is not listed in this order will be subject to an additional ad valorem rate of duty of 10%, unless otherwise expressly provided,” according to the document.

Meanwhile, tariffs on goods imported from Canada to the U.S. will rise from 25% to 35% starting Friday (August 1), excluding items covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement signed by President Trump during his first term.

The order said “these modifications shall be effective with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time 7 days after the date of this order,” with certain exceptions.

On April 2, President Trump announced that the U.S. would impose a general tariff rate of 10% on its trade partners, alongside country-specific rates of up to 50% on dozens of nations.

A week later, he decided to delay the reciprocal tariff rollout for 90 days, with plans to resume on July 9. Just days ahead of that deadline, Trump signed an executive order on July 7, pushing the deadline further to August 1.

Ahead of the August 1 deadline, he sent letters to more than 20 world leaders, announcing the new tariffs on their countries’ exports to the U.S. Most of the new tariff rates closely mirrored those he unveiled on April 2.

Earlier this week, President Trump floated the idea of raising the baseline tariff to around 15% or 20% on imports from countries that haven’t negotiated separate trade agreements with the U.S.

In response to the newly announced executive order, most Asian stock markets fell. South Korea’s benchmark Kospi dropped more than 3%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.66%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.76%.

According to U.S. Customs data, in 2024, two-way trade between Vietnam and the U.S. reached $149.7 billion, of which Vietnam's export was $136.6 billion and import was $13.1 billion. Vietnam's trade surplus with the U.S. was $123.5 billion, ranking third among countries with the largest trade surplus with the U.S. (after China and Mexico).

In the first five months of 2025, bilateral trade hit $77.4 billion, an increase of 36.5% over the same period in 2024, of which Vietnam's export was $71.7 billion (up 37.3% year-on-year) and import was $5.7 billion (an increase of 30.7%). Vietnam's trade surplus with the U.S. in the five-month period was $64.8 billion, up 29% year-on-year, ranking fourth among countries with the largest trade surplus with the U.S. (after China, Mexico, and Iceland).