Vietnam is committed to US steel exports

The finance minister said Vietnam is ready to prove to the United States about steel exports at the center of the new tariff line.

The US Department of Commerce last week said it would set tariffs up to 456% on certain steel produced in South Korea or Taiwan, which is then shipped to Vietnam for minor processing and then exported to the United States.

“We will be determined to manage the situation and deal with violations and deal with them,” Ding Tien Dung told Reuters in an interview through an interpreter.

"We want to demonstrate to President Donald Trump that we are serious about this."

He added that while tariffs will have some economic impact, the impact will not be as significant in the near future as steel exports are not the largest share of US exports.

He declined to say whether Vietnam would consider reciprocal tariffs, adding that "we first need to reconsider (the situation)."

The Southeast Asian country is considered one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Washington-Beijing trade war, as some businesses are moving their supply chains out of China to avoid U.S. tariffs.

After signing a free trade agreement with the European Union last week, Vietnam is aiming for a similar deal with the UK after Brexit, Dung said.

“We want to agree soon ... the sooner the better,” he said.

According to Dung, economic growth this year will be 6.5-6.7%, and next year a similar level is expected.

Vietnam's gross domestic product, supported by robust exports and foreign investment, rose 6.71% in the second quarter of this year, according to official data released last week.

Dung said the government has no plans to further issue dollar-denominated bonds.

Vietnam was a relatively infrequent visitor to the international bond markets, with its last sale in 2014.