Boeing, Apple and GE will join US business delegation to Vietnam next week list shows

A list of participants, including Boeing, Apple, and other top U.S. companies in tech, defence, and energy, will be joining a large mission to Vietnam, next week. This could be a sign of confidence, as Vietnam tries to avoid U.S. tariffs on trade.

The US-ASEAN Business Council is an advocacy group that organizes the annual mission. This year, Vietnam is reviewing its tariffs on U.S. products, including liquefied gas, agricultural and high-tech goods, while U.S. president Donald Trump has threatened to impose additional tariffs on trading partner countries.

The organizers have announced that executives from over 60 large U.S. companies will be traveling to Vietnam in the next week.

According to the list, there are many companies that already have large operations in Vietnam, such as Apple, Intel and Coca-Cola, but also some corporations who may want to expand their business into the booming Vietnamese economy, like Boeing, Amazon, and Bell Textron.

According to a Friday statement by PetroVietnam Power (a state-controlled energy company), other participants include Excelerate Energy a provider floating terminals for liquefied gas and GE Vernova. Both companies have signed provisional agreements with Vietnamese firms for the supply gas equipment.

Vietnamese officials have said repeatedly that they want to increase imports of LNG and related products from the United States in order to reduce the country's surplus trade with Washington. This totaled more than $123 Billion by 2024.

According to an agenda that was seen by the, the U.S. firms will meet with top Vietnamese officials including the Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and the General Secratary of the ruling Communist Party, To Lam.

U.S. businesses in Vietnam are concerned about the impact of tariffs on their operations, as Vietnam is a major manufacturing base for multinationals.

The list also shows that Exxon Mobil is joining the mission. It controls Vietnam's biggest gas field but it has not yet been tapped.

According to the list, Boeing, who has agreements with two Vietnam Airlines for the sale up to 250 aircraft, will also attend, just as it did last year.

Boeing and Bell Textron have been in discussions with Vietnam about the sale of military equipment and helicopters for many years.

The list also includes major U.S. financial institutions, such as JPMorgan Chase, Visa, Mastercard, and Warburg Pincus. (Reporting and editing by Susan Fenton; Francesco Guarascio)

(source: Reuters)