During his working visit to the United States, General Secretary and President To Lam met with U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer in New York City. To Lam affirmed Vietnam's commitment to its comprehensive strategic partnership with the U.S. and its desire to develop relations with the administration of President Donald J. Trump in a stable, substantive, effective, and sustainable manner. He emphasized that economic, trade, and investment cooperation is a crucial pillar of the bilateral relationship, directly benefiting businesses and citizens in both nations. To Lam noted Vietnam's efforts to promote cooperation and purchase American goods to achieve a more balanced trade relationship.
Ambassador Greer praised To Lam's interest and Vietnam's efforts to balance trade, noting that negotiating teams have made significant progress, reaching a point very close to a final outcome. Greer believes that once signed and implemented, the reciprocal, fair, and balanced trade agreement will unlock new opportunities for cooperation. To Lam welcomed these positive developments, anticipating the agreement would create a stable and long-term framework for economic, trade, and investment ties.
Economic, trade, and investment ties continue to drive the Vietnam-U.S. relationship. In the first seven months of 2026, two-way trade reached $118 billion. The U.S. remained Vietnam's largest export market, and Vietnam was the U.S.'s 8th largest trading partner globally and its largest within ASEAN. U.S. exports to Vietnam increased significantly, with approximately $10.8 billion in exports from the U.S. to Vietnam and $149.6 billion in imports from Vietnam, according to U.S. Census Bureau data for the first seven months of 2026. This demonstrates the growing complementarity of the two economies.
The cooperative scope is expanding beyond traditional goods trade into strategic sectors such as science and technology, innovation, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), energy transition, and high-quality human resource development. U.S. enterprises continue to show interest and expand investments in Vietnam, particularly in technology, logistics, and energy, while Vietnamese enterprises are also increasing investments in the U.S. market. The ongoing high-level visits are seen as crucial for strengthening long-term trust, fostering networking opportunities, and driving projects that align with the interests of businesses from both countries.
Vietnamese officials aim to shift from a purely "buy and sell" mindset to building a collaborative ecosystem in investment, technology, and supply chains. The U.S. brings strengths in capital, technology, management, and global networks, while Vietnam offers a rapidly developing market, a large workforce, a strategic position in the regional supply chain, and an extensive network of trade agreements. Vietnam is increasingly focusing on the quality of capital flows, seeking technology, innovation, connections with domestic businesses, human resource training, and enhanced participation in global value chains, rather than solely the scale of investment capital.
