A screen grab of the online meeting between Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyễn Hồng Diên, United States Trade Representative Jamieson L. Greer, with the participation of the Vietnamese Embassy in the United States. — Photo from the Ministry of Industry and Trade

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyễn Hồng Diên, head of the Vietnamese government trade negotiation delegation, on Wednesday evening held a phone call with United States Trade Representative Jamieson L. Greer to officially launch talks on bilateral economic and trade issues between Việt Nam and the US.

This was an important working session to discuss the principles, scope, and roadmap for negotiations. Attending the call were members of the Government negotiation delegation and technical-level representatives from relevant ministries and agencies.

During the call, Minister Diên affirmed that Việt Nam attaches great importance to developing its Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the US, and wishes to promote economic and trade relations in a balanced, stable, sustainable, and effective manner.

A view of the meeting. — Photo from the Ministry of Industry and Trade

He emphasised that Vietnamese ministries and agencies are ready to negotiate and address US concerns, and to work with the US to find mutually beneficial solutions based on the spirit of harmonised interests and shared risks.

For his part, US Trade Representative Jamieson L. Greer highly appreciated the two countries’ agreement to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement. He expressed confidence that the two sides would soon reach appropriate solutions to foster stable and mutually beneficial economic and trade relations.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the two Heads of Delegation also agreed to maintain regular communication at both the head-of-delegation and technical levels to expedite negotiations on specific issues.

Việt Nam was among the countries hit with the highest rate of 'reciprocal tariffs' as announced by US President Donald Trump in early April, at 46 per cent.

During a phone call taking place shortly afterwards, General Secretary Tô Lâm, Việt Nam's top leader, has told President Trump that Việt Nam can slash all tariffs against American goods into Việt Nam to zero per cent, while seeking for the US to do the same for Vietnamese goods. — VNS