(Bloomberg) — Vietnam’s leadership was caught off guard by US President Donald Trump’s announcement last week that it agreed to a 20% tariff, and the Southeast Asian nation is still seeking to lower the rate, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Straight after last Wednesday’s call with Trump, Vietnam’s party chief To Lam told his negotiating team to keep working to bring the tariff rate down, the people said, asking not to be identified as the talks are confidential. The 20% figure came as a surprise as Vietnam believed it had secured a more favorable tariff range, the people said.
Before the call, Vietnam had been pushing for a tariff in the 10%-15% range.
There’s been little mention of the 20% tariff in Vietnam’s state media. In a government memo seen by Bloomberg News, which was sent to local press, it gives instructions not to post content that is unclear or speculative in nature and without consensus between Vietnam and the US.
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Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Southeast Asian nation, an export powerhouse that last year had the world’s third-biggest trade surplus with the US, was only the second country after the UK that Trump has announced a trade agreement with. Trump has been issuing tariff letters to dozens of trading partners since then, slapping duties as high as 50% ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline.
The day after Trump’s Truth Social post on Vietnam, in which he called Lam “an absolute pleasure” to deal with, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said trade negotiators were still coordinating with their US counterparts to finalize the details of the agreement.
Since then, Vietnam’s leaders have skirted the issue in official comments. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh instead focused on Vietnam’s efforts to diversify export markets and supply chains to adapt to the new tariff policy and his comments were echoed a few days later by a deputy trade minister.
Trump’s announced rate of 20% would replace the current 10% baseline, but still add on to some other pre-existing levies such as ‘Most Favored Nation’ tariffs, according to a US official who requested anonymity to discuss the matter. That would push the typical total average effective rate above 20%. US sectoral tariffs, such as on automobiles and steel, are separate from the 20% rate but not cumulative — importers pay one or the other.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside of normal business hours. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said the issue of trade was raised during a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart on the sidelines of a regional forum in Malaysia, but that it wasn’t the focus of their discussions.
“Clearly, Vietnam feels that if they enter into an agreement with the United States, they want to have a tariff rate that’s at least as good as, if not better than, other countries that don’t have a trade agreement with us,” he told reporters, adding that trade wasn’t the purpose of the meeting.
Vietnam is trying to navigate Washington’s demands while keeping good relations with China, its biggest trading partner. Throughout the negotiations, the US demanded more action from Hanoi to prevent Chinese goods being rerouted and repackaged through Vietnam to avoid higher tariffs. Beijing said it was examining the trade agreement and would retaliate if its interests were hurt.
In parallel with the push for a lower rate, Vietnam’s trade ministry is holding meetings with customs and trade industry groups on regulatory steps to further tighten the rules around origin-of-goods fraud and prevent illegal transshipments, the people said.
More than a week after it was first revealed by Trump, neither side has published any kind of detailed outline, providing little clarity on how the 20% rate or the 40% levy on goods deemed to be transshipped through the country will be enacted or enforced.
On Thursday, Trump told NBC News he’s eyeing blanket tariffs of 15% to 20% on most trading partners who haven’t been informed yet of their rates. The current global baseline minimum levy for nearly all US trading partners is 10%.
The confusion has not deterred investors. Stocks rallied to a three-year high and the 20% tariff was interpreted by foreign investors as “a good deal for Vietnam,” said one leading fund manager at an investment summit in Hanoi Wednesday.
While in Brazil for the BRICS summit, Chinh and China’s Premier Li Qiang agreed to boost economic, trade and investment ties between the two countries during a meeting on the sidelines. They also agreed to prioritize the construction of a railway link connecting the two countries, one of many signs of closer cooperation between the two neighbors underscoring Vietnam’s need to keep Beijing on side.
–With assistance from Eric Martin and Ramsey Al-Rikabi.
(Updates with Rubio comment from ninth paragraph.)
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