Vietnam is committing to buy $3 billion in U.S. farm goods to shrink the soaring trade surplus it has with America. Bloomberg says the Asian nation is looking to appease the Trump administration, which isn?t happy about the deficit. Vietnam is also looking to satisfy the complaints of U.S. companies that face difficulties in accessing Vietnamese markets.
A Vietnam Agriculture Ministry spokesman says they ?see a lot of room to increase purchases from America, which will significantly help narrow our trade gap with the U.S.,? while also noting that the demand in Vietnam for American farm products is ?very high.? Vietnamese companies signed a total of 18 agreements with American producers to buy about $3 billion in farm products over the next two or three years. The deal includes purchasing 100,000 cows, three million tons of wheat and barley worth about $800 million, fruit, and corn and soy animal feed.
Vietnam?s exports to the U.S. totaled $61.3 billion in 2019, widening the trade gap to $47 billion, up from $34.8 billion the year before, according to Vietnamese customs data. The U.S. Census Bureau says last year?s trade deficit with Vietnam was $55.8 billion, up from $39.5 billion the year before.
