Harmonizing the trade balance of agricultural products between Vietnam and the United States

On April 9 (local time), on the sidelines of Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc's working trip to the United States, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Hoang Trung met with his counterpart, Mr. Jason Hafemeister - Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture.

The two Deputy Ministers affirmed the good results of cooperation between the two Ministries in the agricultural sector in recent times. This is the basis for the two sides to resolve arising issues, thereby promoting cooperation in opening markets and promoting agricultural trade.

Removing barriers, promoting opening of agricultural markets

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister Hoang Trung affirmed that the US Department of Agriculture is a reliable partner of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and Vietnamese farmers. He hopes that the two ministries will continue to strengthen cooperation, bringing more benefits to both countries, farmers and businesses of the two countries.

The Deputy Minister informed that since the meeting in 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has implemented its commitments with the US Department of Agriculture. The Ministry is urgently completing the risk assessment report (PRA) and other legal procedures so that seedless tangerines, plums, and lemons from the US can enter the Vietnamese market in 2025.

At the same time, the Ministry has also completed the assessment and granted permission for use as animal feed for all records of genetically modified events. In the spirit of bilateral cooperation, the Deputy Minister requested the US side to promptly consider opening the market for Vietnamese passion fruit.

Regarding the US tax reduction proposal, Deputy Minister Hoang Trung announced that the Vietnamese Government has just issued Decree 73/2025/ND-CP dated March 31, 2025 amending and supplementing preferential import tax rates for a number of goods, according to which, basically, the average tax on wood products and wooden furniture has been reduced from 15-25% to 0%, corn and soybeans have been reduced from 2% to 0%, creating favorable conditions for US businesses to export to Vietnam.

The Deputy Minister also mentioned that the two countries have agreed to negotiate a bilateral trade and investment agreement, creating conditions for US businesses and investors to enjoy more incentives and in accordance with international practices.

Maintain a positive relationship between the Ministry of Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture

At the meeting, the two sides discussed the US Government's announcement of imposing a very high reciprocal tax of up to 46% on Vietnamese goods exported to the US, which could cause great disadvantages not only to Vietnamese farmers and businesses, but also to US businesses and consumers.

Bilateral meeting between Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Hoang Trung and Mr. Jason Hafemeister, Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture. Photo: ICD

Vietnamese agricultural products entering the US market are of high quality and at reasonable prices. Therefore, Deputy Minister Hoang Trung suggested that the US Department of Agriculture, in the spirit of effective cooperation between the two ministries in the past, support the proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to the US authorities to consider exempting some groups of agricultural and aquatic products that serve the essential needs of US consumers and do not directly compete (aquatic products, cashews, pepper, vegetables, coffee).

Deputy Minister Jason Hafemeister thanked and affirmed that the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is a good and reputable partner of the US Department of Agriculture. He supported Vietnam's proposals and announced that the US Secretary of Agriculture is expected to visit Vietnam in May 2025 to continue discussing and developing cooperation between the two ministries in the field of agriculture.

Implementation of the Agreement on controlling illegal logging and trade

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has coordinated with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to timely implement the commitments in the agreement on controlling illegal logging and trade. The Vietnamese Government issued Decree 77/2025/ND-CP dated April 1, 2025, regulating the authority and procedures for establishing public ownership of assets and handling assets with established public ownership.

In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is developing a circular guiding the implementation of regulations on handling confiscated timber, in accordance with the commitments in the agreement, working closely with Vietnamese authorities to control origin and combat goods fraud. The Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment requested the US side to quickly review the positive results of the Vietnamese side, and draw conclusions to conclude the investigation into the control of illegal logging and trade.

In addition to the meeting between the two Deputy Ministers, the Vietnamese delegation also had technical discussions with the Department of Foreign Affairs (US Department of Agriculture) on the specific implementation plan of the Proper Fertilizer Use Project with the goal of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of fertilizer use, increasing farmers' income and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in rice cultivation from the proper use of fertilizer. The delegation also worked with the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to strengthen cooperation to promote market opening for agricultural products from the US to Vietnam as well as from Vietnam to the US.

The United States is the largest poultry meat exporter to Vietnam (accounting for about 34% of total poultry meat imports); the second largest beef exporter (after Australia, accounting for about 16%) and the sixth largest pork exporter (accounting for about 5%) among meat exporters to Vietnam. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment calls on businesses to increase imports of corn, soybeans and DDGS from the United States for animal feed. In 2024, Vietnam imported about 1.6 billion USD of these products.

Gia Hong

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/hai-hoa-can-can-thuong-mai-nong-san-viet-nam-hoa-ky-post545072.html