The announcement marked the first such agreement with a country that the United States has a trade deficit with. And it comes before the July 9 deadline, when a reciprocal tariff rate of 46 percent was slated to kick in.

According to the draft copy of a U.S.-Vietnam joint statement obtained by POLITICO, the countries have reached a loose framework for further trade talks. The U.S. will continue to pause the 46 percent tariff on Vietnam's imports that President Donald Trump announced in April while the two sides negotiate a more detailed trade agreement.