Vietnam and the US make great strides in many issues
According to the agreed plan, the 5th round of direct negotiations on the counterpart trade agreement between Vietnam and the United States will be held from November 12-14, 2025 in Washington, D.C., United States.
During the 3 days of negotiations, the Vietnamese and US negotiating delegations made great progress on many issues such as services, digital trade, agriculture, trade-related technical barriers (TBT), food hygiene and safety standards (SPS) ... and narrowed the gap in the remaining issues.
At the meeting to summarize the negotiation session, the Representatives of the United States Trade Commission (USTR) and the Representatives of the Vietnam negotiating Team both said that the negotiation session had very positive results, creating a favorable basis for the early completion of the Vietnam - United States counter- trade agreement.
The United States highly appreciated the goodwill, efforts and creative approach of the Vietnam negotiation delegation, especially the results of the direct negotiation session between Minister Nguyen Hong Dien and Chief Trade Representative of the United States Jamieson Greer held right before the official technical negotiation session. Based on Vietnam's requests, the US has had initial positive feedback and said it can consider handling it based on the overall negotiation results.
The two sides also agreed on the work that needs to be implemented after the negotiation session and agreed to hold a number of online meetings in the coming days to continue discussing outstanding issues as well as preparing for the online negotiation at the ministerial level between Chief Trade Representative Jami Greesoner and Minister Nguyen Hong Dien scheduled to take place in November.
In addition to negotiations, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien had working sessions with the US Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Congressmen, Chairmen of the House of Representatives Tax Committee and met with leaders of technology corporations, semiconductors and the American Leather and Garment Association to promote bilateral economic - investment and trade cooperation activities as well as mobilize the counter- trade negotiation process of Vietnam.
Proposal to remove Vietnam from the list of restrictions on exports of high-tech products
In addition, on the afternoon of November 14 local time, at the headquarters of the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington, D.C. USA, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien had a working session with Deputy Secretary of the US State Department in charge of Economics, Environment and Energy Jacob Helberg.
At the meeting, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien affirmed that Vietnam always firmly believes that expanding cooperation with the United States in the field of high technology is a strategic step, in line with the framework of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Minister Nguyen Hong Dien emphasized that Vietnam has shown goodwill in trade negotiations, helping the US achieve many favorable results for partners.
Therefore, Vietnam hopes for a reasonable, flexible solution, in line with the comprehensive strategic partnership and recommends that the US consider issues such as removing Vietnam from the D1 and D3 lists of restricting exports of high-tech products and recognizing Vietnam's market economy, thereby creating a foundation to promote cooperation more strongly in the coming time.
The US Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed his pleasure at meeting the Minister again, and highly appreciated Vietnam's initiative, especially the cooperation initiative on AI. The US representative emphasized the commitment to attach importance to cooperation with Vietnam in the fields of security, energy, logistics, supply chains and production.
Deputy Minister Jacob Helberg recalled the contents he and Minister Nguyen Hong Dien discussed in Malaysia, aiming to strengthen cooperation in leading technology, build a high-tech ecosystem and promote protection mechanisms for platform industries, especially in the semiconductor and AI sectors. According to him, Vietnam possesses many productive strengths and has strategic value for the United States in developing high-tech industries.
He highly appreciated the proposals and affirmations from Vietnam, affirming that he would fully report to senior leaders, including US President Donald Trump. The US Deputy Secretary of State emphasized two parallel approaches including promoting the Comprehensive Trade Agreement and expanding strategic cooperation on economic security, supply chains and technology; and proposing the development of common principles, as a basis for the formation of MOUs in each field and the implementation of pilot projects.
