Authors: Kanishka Singh and David Brunnstrom

Washington (Reuters) – the modern US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday had a telephone conversation with the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam Bui Thanh Son, in which he called Vietnam to solve the problem of lack of trade balance, and also discussed joint fears about China.

As part of the first merger between the two highest diplomats under the modern administration of the US President Donald Trump, they both welcomed the 30th anniversary of American-Vietnamese relations and the progress made as part of a comprehensive strategic partnership agreed by the countries in 2023, as the statement of the state department sounds.

“The secretary also discussed regional fears regarding the inclusion of China’s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea,” it was stated.

By praising the economic cooperation of both countries, Rubio “encouraged Vietnam to solve the problem of imbalance in trade,” he said.

The United States commercial deficit with Vietnam exceeded $ 110 billion in the first 11 months of 2024, as American data published this month show, as exports increased from the Industrial Center of Southeast Asia in connection with the record drop in the US currency in relation to the dollar .

Although Vietnam has become an vital USA partner in the field of security, analysts perceive a vast trading gap as the main risk for a country depending on exports in the face of Trump’s threat of universal duties on imports from the USA.

The US data from this month showed almost 18% augment in the US deficit in relations with Vietnam compared to the same period of the previous year. It confirmed that this country ruled by communists has the fourth largest trade surplus with the United States, second only China, the European Union and Mexico.

Trump ended his first term in the White House declarations of the treasury of Vietnam and Switzerland as currency manipulators in connection with their market interventions aimed at weakening the value of their currencies.

Vietnam, for which the United States is the largest market, is home to vast, exporting American operations of American international concerns, such as Apple (NASDAQ :), Google (Nasdaq :), Nike (Nyse 🙂 and Intel (Nasdaq :).