Deputy PM discusses trade, investment with US officials

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue (r) meets with US secretary of commerce Wilbur Ross and trade representative Robert Lighthizer on June 26.-VNA/VNS Photo

He was meeting with US secretary of commerce Wilbur Ross and trade representative Robert Lighthizer on June 26.

The meeting was part of Hue’s ongoing official visit to the United States from June 25 to June 27.

He affirmed Vietnam’s keenness to promote free trade while actively implementing agreements between the two countries and settling existing problems.

He urged the United States to deal with matters of Vietnam’s concern, including the recognition of Vietnam’s market economy, anti-dumping and anti-subsidy lawsuits against Vietnamese products such as shrimps, washing machines, solar panels and woven sacks, as well as the exemption of tariff on Vietnam’s steel and aluminium products.

The US officials said President Donald Trump appreciated Hue’s visit and the United States recognised that Vietnam had understood the former’s concerns and taken specific measures to bolster trade ties between the two countries.

They said there was a huge potential and good prospect for collaboration between the two countries and expressed hope that the Vietnamese government would continue to create favourable and fair conditions for US enterprises to access the Vietnamese market.

They also pledged to push for discussions of Hue’s proposals in relevant agencies of the United States.

US for early recognition of Vietnam’s rules on catfish management

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is working hard to accord early recognition of Vietnam’s regulatory system on catfish management as equivalent to that of the United States, said first deputy secretary of USDA Stephen Censky.

He affirmed this at a meeting with Hue on June 26.

Hue said Vietnam considered the United States an important trading partner.

He proposed USDA to sign a framework agreement on agricultural cooperation with Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and asked the US agency to be flexible in the process of equivalence assessment and to facilitate Vietnam’s catfish exports to the United States.

The two countries should enhance joint work in smart agriculture, development of low-emission agriculture production models and models for adapting to and mitigating climate change in highly vulnerable areas, such as the Red River and Mekong deltas in Vietnam, Hue said.

Censky thanked the Vietnamese leader for his efforts to promote agricultural cooperation between the two countries and added that the United States would begin importing star apple from Vietnam and was completing final procedures to import mangoes as well.

USDA would work with MARD to discuss measures to implement Hue’s proposals, especially on the import of pomelo in future, Censky said.

He also asked Vietnam to consider importing US fruits, such as blueberries and other citrus fruits.