Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Phạm Thu Hằng at the press briefing on July 3. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Negotiating teams from Việt Nam and the United States are "coordinating and exchanging views to concretise the items of discussions between the two countries' top leaders," spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Phạm Thu Hằng said on Thursday.

Hằng made the statement in response to press queries on the tariff rates that US President Donald Trump revealed in an announcement late Wednesday on a deal reached with Vietnamese Party General Secretary Tô Lâm. Trump unveiled rates of 20 per cent on Vietnamese goods into the US (40 per cent on transhipped goods from another country), while Việt Nam will cut all tariffs for American goods entering the country.

On Wednesday, Lâm held a phone call with Trump during which both leaders discussed bilateral relations, on topics including reciprocal tariffs, Hằng said.

"During the call, General Secretary Tô Lâm said he highly appreciated President Trump's attention to Việt Nam and to the Việt Nam–US bilateral relations," she noted.

In the talks, the Party leader and the US president welcomed the agreement reached by the two countries’ negotiating teams revealed in a joint statement from Việt Nam and the US on the Framework Agreement for Reciprocal, Fair and Balanced Trade, according to official information from the Government.

Trump expressed his appreciation for Việt Nam’s commitment to granting preferential market access for US goods, including large-engine automobiles.

The readout from the Government confirmed that the US would substantially reduce reciprocal tariffs on many Vietnamese export items and would continue working with Việt Nam to address outstanding issues affecting bilateral trade relations, particularly in priority areas for both sides.

No specific figures were mentioned on the Vietnamese side, however.

General Secretary Lâm also proposed that the United States soon recognise Việt Nam as a market economy and lift export restrictions on certain high-tech products, per the statement.

Việt Nam was set to face a 46 per cent levy under the 'Liberation Day' tariff policies targeting most of the US' trade partners that Trump announced on April 2, which had been put on pause for 90 days to allow trade talks to take place.

After three rounds of negotiations, Việt Nam is now the second country in the world (following the United Kingdom) and first in Asia to have struck an agreement with the US, just one week before the July 9 deadline. VNS