Vietnam's leadership was caught off guard by US President Donald Trump's announcement last week that it agreed to a 20% tariff, and the South-East Asian nation is still seeking to lower the rate.

HANOI (Reuters) -Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and China's Premier Li Qiang have agreed to boost trade and investment ties between the two countries during a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brazil,

Announcing the deal with Vietnam last week, Trump said that the US will instead impose a 20 per cent tariff on Vietnamese goods. A higher rate of 40 per cent will apply on any goods from Vietnam it considers to have been ‘trans-shipped’ – i.