HANOI (March 14): Vietnam is reviewing its duties on US goods, including on liquefied natural gas, agriculture and high-tech products, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told the US ambassador to the country, a report on the government's website said.

The Southeast Asian industrial hub, which is heavily reliant on exports to the United States and has a large trade surplus with Washington, exceeding US$123 billion (RM546.8 billion) in 2024, is scrambling to avoid reciprocal tariffs that the Trump administration has threatened globally to reduce America's trade deficit.

Chinh said "relevant ministries, sectors and agencies are actively reviewing import tariffs on goods from the United States, encouraging increased imports of key US products that Vietnam needs, especially agricultural products, liquefied gas and high-tech products," the report on the government portal said.

Chinh met US Ambassador Marc Knapper on Thursday.

Vietnam's trade minister Nguyen Hong Dien delivered a similar message to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during his visit to Washington that is currently underway, according to a statement published on the ministry's website on Friday.

They discussed ways to promote business ties "through proactively reviewing and considering the removal of trade barriers," according to the Vietnamese trade ministry.

During the visit to Washington, Dien plans to have meetings with top US trade and energy officials with the aim of reaching unspecified deals, according to a Vietnam government document seen by Reuters.

In a possible positive sign, a delegation of more than 60 US corporations plans to visit Vietnam later in March, according to the US-Asean Business Council, the advocacy group that has organised the trip.

The organiser declined to name any of the participants, which in past years included top US tech, defence and energy firms.

US businesses and manufacturers in Vietnam voiced concerns about their operations in case of tariffs, according to a February survey.

Vietnamese officials have repeatedly indicated their willingness to meet US requests on reducing trade imbalances and to facilitate US business in the country, including by pledging a quick licensing process for Elon Musk's Starlink satellite services.

Vietnam is one of the world's top exporters to the United States, with the US market absorbing Vietnamese imports worth nearly one-third of the Southeast Asian country's economic output.

Vietnamese imports of US LNG have often been mentioned by Vietnamese and US officials as a means to reduce the large trade gap, but no concrete steps have been taken yet.

The fledgling Vietnamese LNG industry currently relies on spot deals for small shipments, rather than multi-year contracts preferred by US exporters.

In February, the trade minister said Vietnam was ready to import more farm products from the United States.

More than one-fourth of US exports to Vietnam last year were agricultural products, mostly cotton, soybeans and tree nuts, for a total value of US$3.4 billion, according to US government data.

Vietnam is also keen to import more US high-tech products, including AI-grade chips, but faces restrictions on accessing the most advanced semiconductors under rules adopted by the Biden administration.

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