HANOI (Reuters) -Vietnam will devise measures to improve product quality to cope with potential risks from U.S. tariffs, as it seeks to expand exports to other markets and reduce its reliance on the United States, the country’s deputy trade minister said on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade is coordinating with firms to work on the measures, Phan Thi Thang told an investment conference in Hanoi.
The Southeast Asian country reached an agreement with the Trump administration that saw a 20% tariff slapped on its products and a 40% levy on transhipments through Vietnam from third countries.
Thang said the tariffs offer a chance for Vietnam to improve its product quality and diversify its export markets, with a focus on markets it has free trade agreements with.
“With 16 free trade agreements, Vietnam is expanding its export markets to reduce its reliance on the United States market,” she said.
Vietnam’s gross domestic product grew 7.96% in the second quarter, up from 6.93% in the first quarter, but it remains short of the country’s full-year growth target of at least 8%.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said at a separate meeting on Wednesday that reaching that target is a “big challenge.”
(Reporting by PKhanh Vu and huong Nguyen; Editing by Martin Petty and David Stanway)
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