The US President is determined to pursue free, fair, and reciprocal trade and investment terms for American businesses, farmers, and workers with all U.S. economic partners, including friends like Vietnam, the spokesperson of the US Embassy in Hanoi said on July 1, in reply to the Vietnam News Agency’s question on Vietnam-US trade and investment ties.

Illustrative image (Photo: vneconomictimes.com)

“We have spoken forthrightly with our Vietnam partners about our persistent trade imbalance, and hope Vietnam takes steps in the near term to address our concerns in a constructive manner,” the spokesperson said. 

Earlier on June 28, in reply to reporters’ question about Vietnam’s reaction to US President Donald Trump’s remark on the Vietnam-US economic-trade ties, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang affirmed that with the view that the two economies can supplement each other, Vietnam wants to promote free and fair economic-trade-investment ties with the US on the basis of mutual benefit. 

She went on to say that in that spirit, Vietnam has made many efforts to improve the trade balance between the two countries, by increasing the import of products which are in the US’s strength and needed by Vietnam, bettering the investment and business environment, creating favourable conditions for US firms which want to operate in Vietnam, and encouraging Vietnamese firms to invest and do business in the US. 

According to the spokesperson, Vietnam has implemented numerous measures to curb and prevent trade frauds and the export of foreign goods disguised as Vietnam-made goods to other markets. 

Vietnam and the US regularly hold discussions through available mechanisms such as the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) to form a long-term and comprehensive cooperative strategy, further intensify bilateral economic, trade and investment relations and timely address arising problems, Hang said. 

Statistics of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed that the US has been among leading trade partners of Vietnam with bilateral trade value surging by more than 130 times since 1994. The US’s exports to Vietnam rose by nearly 40 percent in 2018. US investors are running 900 valid projects in Vietnam with total investment capital of more than 9 billion USD.