HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam will cut its tariffs on several U.S. products including LNG and cars, the head of the Finance Ministry’s tax policy department said, as the country tries to avoid being hit with U.S. tariffs because of its large bilateral trade surplus. Among the cuts, the tariff on American LNG will be cut to 2% from 5%, on automobiles to 32% from a range of 45% to 64%, and on ethanol to 5% from 10%, Nguyen Quoc Hung said in a statement posted on the ministry’s website late on Tuesday.
The tariff cuts are aimed at “improving trade balances with (Vietnam)’s trade partners,” Hung said, adding that the U.S. and Vietnam now had a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Hung said Vietnam will also remove its tariff on American ethane. He said the decree on the tariff cuts will be ready within this month and will take effect right after that.
The cuts are part of a series of measures the Southeast Asian industrial hub has flagged in past weeks to reduce its trade surplus with Washington, which exceeded $123 billion last year.
(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by John Mair)
