Washington — President Trump announced Wednesday that the U.S. has reached a trade deal with Vietnam, days before the July 9 deadline when the pause on his so-called reciprocal tariffs will expire.
Under the terms of the agreement, Mr. Trump said the U.S. would levy 20% tariffs on goods imported to the U.S. from Vietnam, and a 40% tariff on “any transshipping.” The president said Vietnam would “‘OPEN THEIR MARKET TO THE UNITED STATES,’ meaning that, we will be able to sell our product into Vietnam at ZERO Tariff.”
Mr. Trump announced the agreement on Truth Social after speaking with To Lam, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. The remaining details of the agreement have not yet been revealed, and Vietnam has not confirmed the deal announced by the president.
Foreign countries have until July 9 to reach a deal on trade and tariffs with the U.S. before the president’s tariffs go into effect again. In early April, he announced tariffs on imports from about 90 nations that are above a 10% across-the-board tax applied to all imports to the U.S. Mr. Trump, describing the announcement as “Liberation Day,” said the new taxes were needed to erase a trade deficit between the U.S. and other countries, ranging from China to the European Union.
A week later, he paused the tariffs, admitting that he did so because he saw the bond markets “were getting a little queasy.”
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump told reporters he isn’t interested in extending the pause.
