New US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Holds Call with Vietnam’s Foreign Minister
New US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a call with Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son on Friday to discuss a range of issues, including trade imbalances and concerns about China.
The call marked the first between the two top diplomats under the new administration of US President Donald Trump. The two leaders hailed the 30th anniversary of US-Vietnam relations and progress made under a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreed in 2023. They also discussed regional concerns, including China’s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea.
Rubio praised the two countries’ economic cooperation but encouraged Vietnam to address trade imbalances, which have grown significantly in recent months. According to US figures, the US trade deficit with Vietnam exceeded $110 billion in the first 11 months of 2024, driven by a 18% rise in US imports from Vietnam compared to the same period the previous year.
Vietnam has become an important US security partner, but the large trade gap is seen by analysts as a major risk for the export-reliant nation amid threats from Trump of across-the-board tariffs on US imports. The US data shows that Vietnam has the fourth-highest commercial surplus with the United States, after China, the European Union, and Mexico.
