State media report that US and Vietnamese firms have signed a deal on energy and minerals.

State media and one of these firms reported on Friday that Vietnamese and American firms had signed a number of deals on minerals and energy during the visit to the United States of Vietnam's Trade Minister.

State-owned PetroVietnam Power said that Vietnamese firms are in discussions with U.S. companies to buy American crude and LNG. The company is a party to one of these deals, and executives from the firm will accompany the minister to the United States. Vietnamese Trade Minister Nguyenhong Dien is currently in the United States for trade talks. The Southeast Asian nation is scrambling to avoid the reciprocal tariffs the Trump administration had threatened to reduce America's deficit.

PetroVietnam Power said in a press release that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with GE Vernova for the purchase of GE equipment to be used at gas-fired plants.

The company did not go into detail about the agreements, but stated that they were valued at $4.15 Billion. Could not independently verify that number.

According to PetroVietnam Power, and reports from state media, other deals include those between PetroVietnam Gas with Conoco Phillips & Excelerate as well as between Vietnamese oil refiner Binh Son & Kellogg Brown & Root.

They said that other agreements were between the fuel trading company Petrolimex of Vietnam and the U.S. Grains Council and Renewable Fuels Association. Growth Energy also signed a deal with Masan Group, while U.S. International Development Finance Corp. and Masan Group have a cooperation agreement in mineral processing.

The trip was made ahead of the deadline set by U.S. president Donald Trump for federal agencies next month to complete comprehensive reviews on a variety of trade issues. This includes analyses of persistent U.S. deficits. According to an analysis, Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand have the highest export-to GDP ratios to the United States. This puts them at risk of increased tariffs. Reporting by Khanh Vu, Editing by John Mair and Martin Petty

(source: Reuters)