Vietnam determined to reduce trade surplus with US: PM

By Phuong Anh January 7, 2021 | 01:26 am PT

A container ship docks at Cat Lai Port in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Shutterstock/xuanhuongho.

Vietnam is determined to cooperate with the U.S. in achieving balanced and sustainable trade relations, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told a forum Thursday.

The Vietnamese government has made drastic measures to reduce other countries’ trade deficit with it and to prevent export origin frauds, he added.

The U.S. Treasury last month labeled Switzerland and Vietnam currency manipulators, a claim strongly refuted by the latter.

PM Phuc and U.S. President Donald Trump talked on Dec. 22, while Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh phoned U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday to resolve the issue.

Phuc said he had urged Trump to avoid placing duties on Vietnamese goods, with Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh on Thursday continuing talks.

He added handling the situation badly could see bad consequences for investment and trade.

Vietnam’s monetary policy only seeks to control inflation and stabilize the macro economy, not to gain a trade advantage, Phuc stressed.

Data from the U.S. showed Vietnam’s trade surplus with it had risen in the past four years and is set to hit a record high of $65 billion in 2021, a 70 percent increase from 2017.