Vietnam not to blame for trade deficit: US firms By Quynh Trang January 1, 2021 | 10:15 pm GMT+7 Workers at a footwear factory in Hanoi. Photo by Reuters. Several American businesses and organizations worry about risks of the U.S. applying tariffs on Vietnam's exports, citing the U.S.'s large trade deficit is not due to currency valuation. In December 2020, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) office organized a hearing to gather opinions from U.S. businesses and organizations regarding suspicions that Vietnam's increasing trade surplus with the U.S. was caused by deliberate undervaluation of the Vietnamese dong. The U.S. Department of Treasury has labeled Vietnam and Switzerland as currency manipulators in a report issued on December 16, though this action on its own would not automatically activate tariffs or sanctions.