HCMC – Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc is set to meet with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent at 4:00 p.m. on April 9 (U.S. time) to discuss America’s new tariff on Vietnam.
The meeting is considered critical as the 46% reciprocal tariff on imports from Vietnam will absolutely send Vietnam’s exports to the U.S. market plunging and thus affect the country’s growth target for this year.
Global media reports also said that Phoc is also expected to have separate meetings with executives from major U.S. companies, including Boeing, SpaceX and Apple.
The reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners worldwide took effect on April 9.
Over the past week, Vietnam has scrambled to take prompt steps to mitigate the impact of the tariff, including a proposal for the U.S. to postpone the tariff by at least 45 days to allow time for negotiations.
Last week, Party General Secretary To Lam had a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump. He expressed Vietnam’s willingness to negotiate with the U.S. to bring tariffs on U.S. goods down to 0%, and proposed that the U.S. apply the same rate to imports from Vietnam.
