The announcement came after Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said last month that Hanoi was reviewing levies in order to encourage increased imports from the United States.
Washington’s trade deficit with Vietnam is the third highest of any country, after China and Mexico, and there are increasing fears it could be a key target of the White House’s tariff drive, which has sent shockwaves through global markets.
“From Mar 31, 2025, certain items such as cars, wood, ethanol, frozen chicken legs, pistachios, almonds, fresh apples, cherries, raisins, etc, will be subject to a new preferential import duty rate,” a statement said late Monday (Mar 31) on the government’s official news portal.
It added that import duties on some cars will be halved and the tax rate for liquefied natural gas will drop from five percent to 2 per cent.
Tariffs on frozen chicken legs will be reduced from 20 per cent to 15 per cent, the rates on unshelled pistachios will be slashed from 15 per cent to 5 per cent, and for almonds, it will drop from 10 per cent to 5 per cent.
The finance ministry said last week that the changes were to “cope with the complicated and unpredictable developments of the world’s geopolitical and economic situation, especially the changes in economic, trade and tariff policies”.
Trump said Sunday that tariffs would apply to “all countries”, not just those with the largest trade imbalances with the United States, but added on Monday that he would be “very kind” to trading partners.
