On February 4, 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Trade informed that on the afternoon of February 3, on the sidelines of the 6th Round of negotiations of the Vietnam-US Fair and Balanced Counterpart Trade Agreement, Acting Minister of Industry and Trade Le Manh Hung had a working session with US Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Vaden to exchange views on agricultural cooperation and contents related to bilateral trade.
The working session takes place in the context that the two countries are conducting the 6th round of negotiations on a fair and balanced reciprocal trade agreement to aim to soon achieve a stable and harmonious trade framework. In that process, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade continues to promote its role as the leading negotiating agency, proactively connecting market opening and tariff contents with specialized cooperation, thereby contributing to creating a constructive, substantive and favorable atmosphere for the entire negotiation process between the two countries.
At the working session, the two sides exchanged in-depth views on agricultural technology transfer cooperation. Vietnam highly appreciates the experience and strengths of the United States in developing high-tech agriculture, applying disease-resistant crop varieties, sustainably managing water resources and processing agricultural products.
In that spirit, Acting Minister Le Manh Hung proposed expanding expert exchange programs, technology transfer, human resource training and implementing joint venture projects, especially in the field of ethanol production from corn and agricultural by-products. Vietnam is ready to coordinate in building pilot models in some localities, as a basis for replication, bringing practical benefits to farmers and businesses of the two countries.
Regarding reciprocal tax negotiations, the Acting Minister affirmed that the agricultural trade structure between Vietnam and the United States is complementary and not directly competitive.
Vietnam has shown high goodwill by reducing import tariffs to 0% for most US agricultural products, and signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) committing to purchase 3 billion USD of US agricultural products in the period 2025–2028. In 2025 alone, Vietnam's US agricultural import turnover reached about 2 billion USD. Based on the principle of fairness and balance of interests, Vietnam proposes that the US Department of Agriculture support expanding the list of Vietnamese agricultural products entitled to a 0% reciprocal tax rate, creating more favorable conditions for access to the US market.
On the US side, Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden expressed concern about issues such as access to fruit markets, animal and plant quarantine and procedures for biotechnology product registration. Appreciating the potential of the Vietnamese market as well as bilateral cooperation prospects, the Deputy Secretary said that the US side is expected to organize two working delegations to Vietnam in March and November 2026, with the participation of representatives of states and large agricultural enterprises, to promote agricultural trade and technology transfer cooperation, especially biotechnology.
The working session concluded in a positive cooperative atmosphere, contributing to strengthening Vietnam-US relations in the important negotiation phase. The two sides agreed to continue to maintain close technical exchanges, coordinate to handle issues of mutual concern, thereby promoting agricultural trade towards stability, sustainability and making practical contributions to the overall success of the agreement negotiation process.
