Vietnamese and American firms have signed deals on energy and minerals during a visit to the US by Vietnam's trade minister, Nguyen Hong Dien.

Vietnamese companies are in talks with US firms to buy American crude oil and LNG. PetroVietnam Power, a signatory to one of the deals, has signed a memorandum of understanding with GE Vernova to buy GE equipment for gas-fired power plants.

Other agreements include those between PetroVietnam Gas and Conoco Phillips and Excelerate, Vietnamese oil refiner Binh Son and Kellogg Brown & Root, and fuel trading firm Petrolimex with the US Grains Council, Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy, and a mineral processing cooperation deal between Masan Group and US International Development Finance Corp.

The trip came ahead of a deadline set by US President Donald Trump for federal agencies to complete comprehensive reviews of trade issues, including analyses of persistent US trade deficits.

Vietnam, Taiwan, and Thailand are the most exposed to the possibility of increases in US tariffs due to their high export-to-GDP ratios with the US.