Vietnam, US 'agree on direction' for negotiating reciprocal trade agreement

Vietnam and the U.S. have reached a high level of agreement on issues of principles, approaches, content orientations, and plans regarding their negotiations for a reciprocal trade agreement, the Vietnamese government's news portal reported.

"That development created a foundation for the next negotiation sessions to achieve positive results," it added.

On Friday afternoon (May 16), in Jeju, South Korea, immediately after the conclusion of the 31st APEC Ministerial Meeting on Trade (MRT 31), Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien, head of Vietnam's Government Negotiation Delegation, had a direct ministerial-level negotiation session with U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer.

This is the first direct ministerial-level negotiation session between Vietnam and the United States after the online session on April 12 for a Vietnam-U.S. Reciprocal Trade Agreement under the direction of the two countries' senior leaders.

The negotiation session took place in a flexible, open, constructive and frank spirit, demonstrating the great efforts of both sides in building a stable economic, trade and investment relationship that commensurates with the Vietnam-U.S. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, on the basis of respecting sovereignty, autonomy, political institutions; harmonizing and balancing interests; and compliance with international law and practice and the development level of each country, according to the news portal.

"U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer acknowledged and appreciated Vietnam's goodwill and proactiveness in preparing for the negotiations, and basically agreed with Vietnam's approach and proposals," it said.

The United States hopes that with the efforts of both sides, the technical-level negotiations in the coming days will achieve positive results, bringing practical benefits to the peoples and business communities of the two countries and contributing to the stability and sustainable development of bilateral trade ties and the comprehensive strategic partnership, the news portal added.

Previously, Greer had described the ongoing trade talks with Vietnam and other countries as “fruitful”, saying “they understand what we're trying to solve for”.

He made the statement after the U.S. unveiled its trade deal with the UK, the first since President Donald Trump on April 2 announced to impose reciprocal tariffs and then delayed the decision for 90 days for negotiations.

“We're going to have more deals in the weeks and months to come,” Greer told CNBC on Thursday, May 8 (U.S. time).