President Donald Trump today announced on Truth Social, his social media platform, that the U.S. has reached a trade agreement with Vietnam, establishing a 20 percent duty on imports from the country, The New York Times reports. According to his post, the deal also includes a stipulation that goods originating in another country that are transferred to Vietnam for final shipment to the U.S. will face a higher 40 percent tariff—a policy intended to counter a practice known as “transshipping,” which China has reportedly utilized in Vietnam to bypass the steep tariffs on its own exports.
The post also noted that as part of the agreement, U.S. exports will be able to enter Vietnam tariff-free. According to a statement provided to the NYT from the Vietnamese government, the two countries had settled on a “framework for a fair and balanced reciprocal trade agreement,” delivering “preferential market access” for goods from the States.
The deal with Vietnam arrives exactly a week before the expiration of a 90-day pause on the sweeping reciprocal tariffs the Trump administration announced on April 2—a date the President dubbed “Liberation Day.” Then, he implemented a baseline 10 percent universal tariff (which still remains in effect) alongside numerous reciprocal tariffs that varied by country: a 34 percent tax on imports from China, 20 percent for the European Union, 25 percent for South Korea, 24 percent for Japan—and, originally, 46 percent for Vietnam.
Soon after those policies took effect, the administration announced it was suspending the country-specific duties (China excluded) for 90 days. The final date on that pause is fast approaching, though the interim period hasn’t yielded many trade deals, aside from revised policies for China, the United Kingdom and now Vietnam.
Still, the deal could be significant for the U.S., which counted Vietnam as its sixth-largest source of imports in 2024, as it brought in $136.6 billion in goods to the States that year (a figure that made up 30 percent of Vietnam’s annual gross domestic product), Reuters reports. Along with key exports like electronics, footwear and textiles, the country has become a growing source of home furnishings for U.S. brands and buyers, reaching a market size of $1.4 billion in 2023.
The deal has wide-ranging impacts on the furniture industry as well. According to a recent report by investment banking and corporate advisory firm Mann, Armistead & Epperson, Vietnam overtook China last year as the largest exporter of household furniture and bedding to the U.S., shipping $10.4 billion in wood and metal furniture, upholstery, and bedding there in 2024.