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Vietnam and United States: Framework for an Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade

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In brief

On 26 October 2025, The United States and Vietnam concluded the Framework for an Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade. According to the Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), the two countries will continue to finalize the detailed commitments in the next few weeks for signing and internal ratification.

Key takeaways

The final Agreement is expected to be concluded by the end of this year with the following major commitments:

  • A comprehensive agreement covering digital trade, services and investment, intellectual property, labor, environment, customs and trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, and any distortionary behaviors of state-owned enterprises.
  • Commodities originating from Vietnam are subject to reciprocal tariff of 20%.
  • Reciprocal tariff of 0% applies to certain commodities under Annex III of Executive Order 14346 dated 05 September 2025, as identified by both Parties.
  • Technical barriers applied by Vietnamese authorities will be addressed/aligned e.g., US motor vehicle safety and emissions standards; import licenses for US medical devices; regulatory requirements and approvals for US pharmaceutical products; Vietnam’s obligations under certain international intellectual property treaties; product quality conformity assessment procedures.

In more detail

  1. The reciprocal tariff and in-scope commodities originating from Vietnam

The Reciprocal tariff for Vietnam originating goods going into US is 20%. There is possibility that the reciprocal tariff will be reduced to 0% for a number of commodities under Annex III of Executive Order 14346 dated 05 September 2025.

However, the actual benefits of the tariff being reduced to zero may be limited as the commodity list is subject to a number of limitations which may exclude most of Vietnam’s major exported commodities.

  1. Tariff reduction for US commodities

Vietnam will provide preferential market access for substantially all US industrial and agricultural exports to Vietnam.

This may mirror preferential tariff treatment that is currently applied to other key trading partners of Vietnam (e.g., the EU).

  1. Removal of technical barriers

Market access for the US commodities is expected to be improved when Vietnam reconsiders the current license, import permit and quality control on agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, vehicles, etc.

For further questions regarding this alert, please contact the listed authors.

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Ngoc Trung Tran, Senior Regulatory Advisor, has contributed to this legal update.

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Author

Hung Tran is the managing partner of BMVN International LLC (strategic alliance of Baker McKenzie Vietnam) and the chair of the Commercial, Data, IPTech and Trade Practice of Baker McKenzie Asia Pacific offices. For years, he has been constantly ranked as a leading IP, TMT, and Data Protection lawyer by numerous researchers such as Chambers Global, Chambers Asia, Legal 500 Asia Pacific.
He regularly writes articles concerning pressing legal issues in both English and Vietnamese, and his works have been published regularly in various reputable publications. He has assisted the government in reviewing and revising the IP Law, the IP provisions under the country’s criminal code, the draft e-Transaction Law, and the first draft Personal Data Protection Decree, etc.
He is also a respected presenter in the area of IP, Franchising, Data Privacy, and Entertainment Laws. In addition to authoring many publications, Mr. Tran has lectured at Waseda University School of Law (Japan), Vietnam-German University, Hanoi Law University, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Foreign Trade University, an international MBA Program (CFVG) and IP laws for the Professional Training School of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. He used to serve as the Chairman of the Legal Committee of Hanoi American Chamber of Commerce.

Author

Thanh Vinh Nguyen is a partner in the Ho Chi Minh City office of Baker McKenzie. Before joining the Firm, he practiced tax and consultancy work for two international accounting firms and worked as a compliance counsel for an international insurance company.

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