Vietnam to cut tariffs on US imports as Trump tariff decision looms

HANOI – Vietnam will cut its tariffs on several US products including  liquefied natural gas (LNG) and cars, the head of its Finance Ministry’s tax policy department said, as the country tries to avoid being hit with US tariffs because of its large bilateral trade surplus.

The South-east Asian industrial hub has taken a series of measures to reduce its trade surplus with Washington, which exceeded US$123 billion (S$165 billion) in 2024, after US President Donald Trump flagged

wide-ranging tariffs on trading partners

.

Among the cuts, the tariff on American LNG will be cut to 2 per cent from 5 per cent, on automobiles to 32 per cent from a range of 45 per cent to 64 per cent, and on ethanol to 5 per cent from 10 per cent. Mr Nguyen Quoc Hung, the head of the Vietnamese Finance Ministry’s tax policy department, said this in a statement posted on the ministry’s website late on March 25.

The tariff cuts are aimed at “improving trade balances with (Vietnam)‘s trade partners”, Mr Hung said, adding that while the US and Vietnam had a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the countries had not signed a free-trade agreement.

Vietnam has not yet imported LNG from the US, but the country has been in talks with US suppliers for its future fleet of LNG power plants, the first two of which are scheduled to start commercial power generation by June 2025.   

Mr Hung said Vietnam will also remove its tariff on American ethane. He said the decree on the tariff cuts will be ready within March and will take effect right after that.

Other American imports that will have lower tariffs include chicken thighs, almonds, apples, cherries and wooden products.

Mr Trump is expected to apply reciprocal tariffs on several countries on April 2, although on March 24, he said some countries might get breaks. REUTERS