On the morning of April 3, in Hanoi, Politburo member and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a meeting with ministries and branches after the US announced a new tax rate for imported goods from Vietnam.
Previously, as Lao Dong reported, according to Reuters, in the early morning of January 3, Vietnam time, President Donald Trump signed a decree imposing a 10% import tax on all goods entering the US, and at the same time raised the tax rate for more than 60 countries, including major trading partners such as China, the European Union (EU), Japan and India.
Speaking at the Red Garden of the White House, President Trump affirmed that this is a historic step to protect American workers, helping the domestic production sector no longer be "exposed" by other countries.
Mr. Trump called this a "declaration of Economic Independence", emphasizing that the US has suffered losses for too long and now is the time to regain the upper hand.
The European Union is hit with a 20% tariff, a major blow to key export industries such as cars, food and wine. Japan is subject to a tax rate of 24%, South Korea 25%, India 26%, while Vietnam faces a high tax rate of up to 46%.
Countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Switzerland are also subject to a tax rate of 30% or more, causing many difficulties for their export businesses.
Earlier, the Government issued Decree 73/2025/ND-CP dated March 31, 2025 amending and supplementing the preferential import tax rate of some items at the preferential import tax table according to the list of taxable items issued together with Decree No. 26/2023/ND-CP dated May 31, 2023 on export tax schedule, preferential import tax schedule, non-import tax category, non-import tax terms.
Accordingly, the preferential import tax rate for HS code 8703.23.63 and 8703.23.57 cars will be reduced from 64% to 50% and for HS code 8703.24.51 cars from 45% to 32%.
For Ethanol, the preferential import tax rate is also reduced from 10% to 5%.
Import tax rate for frozen chicken thighs decreased from 20% to 15%; adding laughing tea nuts, un peeled, decreased from 15% to 5%; almonds decreased from 10% to 5%; fresh apples decreased from 8% to 5%; cherries decreased from 10% to 5%; dry grapes decreased from 12% to 5%.
For wood products and wood products including:
Group 44.21: Wood products (including products such as clothes hangers, coffins, coil core, fiber and fiber ong, sewing rolls and similar products, wood bars for sewing...).
Group 94.01 and 94.03: Seats and seating parts; wooden furniture: reduce import tax from the same tax rate of 20% and 25% to 0%.
Preferential import tax rate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) is reduced from 5% to 2%.
Ethane products: add HS code 2711.19.00 to Chapter 98 with a preferential import tax rate of 0%.
Preferential import tax rates for corn products will be reduced from 2% to 0%; for dried soybean oil products will be reduced from 1%, 2% to 0%.
