Vietnam seeks US tariff exemptions on key agricultural exports

The proposal was made during a meeting between Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Hoang Trung and Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Jason Hafemeister, held on the sidelines of Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc’s visit to the United States, a representative of the ministry said on Friday.

During the discussion, Deputy Minister Trung reaffirmed the strong partnership between the two countries’ agricultural sectors and expressed his desire to deepen bilateral cooperation to bring benefits to both nations, particularly to farmers and agribusinesses.

The ministry is currently finalizing a pest risk assessment (PRA) and other required regulatory procedures to allow U.S. seedless lemons, plums, and tangerines to enter the Vietnamese market in 2025, he said.

On the other hand, Deputy Minister Trung called on the U.S. to accelerate market access for Vietnamese passion fruit.

In a reciprocal move, Vietnam recently issued Decree 73, amending the preferential import tariff schedule.

Under this decree, tariffs on U.S. wood and wood products have been slashed from 15-25 percent to zero percent, while corn and soybeans have also seen reductions from two percent to zero percent.

These changes aim to facilitate greater U.S. exports to Vietnam.

He noted that the two countries had agreed to negotiate a bilateral trade and investment agreement that would grant U.S. firms more favorable conditions, aligned with international standards.

The meeting also mentioned concerns over a U.S. decision to impose a 46-percent retaliatory tariff on certain Vietnamese exports.

Deputy Minister Trung warned that the steep tariff could significantly impact Vietnamese farmers and exporters, as well as U.S. businesses and consumers who rely on competitively priced Vietnamese products.

Highlighting the high quality and reasonable prices of Vietnamese agricultural exports to the U.S., Trung urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support Vietnam’s request to exempt some agricultural and seafood products from tariffs.

He stressed that these items serve essential consumer needs in the U.S., including seafood, cashew nuts, pepper, vegetables and coffee.

In response, Hafemeister thanked the Vietnamese delegation and acknowledged the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment as a valuable and reliable partner.

He expressed support for Vietnam’s proposals and announced that the U.S. secretary of Agriculture is scheduled to visit Vietnam in May 2025 to further strengthen agricultural ties between the two nations.

According to the ministry, the U.S. is Vietnam’s largest supplier of poultry, accounting for roughly 34 percent of the Southeast Asian nation’s total poultry imports, as well as the second-largest seller of beef and the sixth-largest of pork.