The United States and Vietnam will finalise a trade agreement in the coming weeks that will maintain 20 per cent tariffs on most Vietnamese goods but lift duties on certain products that will be decided at a later stage, the White House said on Sunday.
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In return Vietnam committed to offering “preferential access” for most all US goods.
The two countries have agreed to a framework for the agreement on “reciprocal, fair and balanced” trade between the two nations, the countries said in a joint statement released by the White House.
US President Donald Trump in July announced that the United States would place a 20 per cent tariff on many Vietnamese products, as well as a 40 per cent levy on trans-shipments through Vietnam from third countries.
In the new deal, the United States will maintain its tariff rate on Vietnamese goods at 20 per cent, but will identify products where the levy can be reduced to zero.
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The agreement “will provide both countries’ exporters unprecedented access to each other’s markets,” the statement said on Sunday.