The US Trade Deficit – Trump Negotiates

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump welcomed Vietnam’s prime minister to the White House Wednesday for talks focusing on the American trade deficit, while the Southeast Asian country is still shaken by Trump’s withdrawal from a regional commerce pact.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is the first leader to visit the Trump White House from Southeast Asia, where the U.S. vies with China for influence. The two leaders said billions of dollars in U.S.-Vietnamese business deals were signed, but gave no details.

Their Oval Office meeting, however, was overshadowed by indications Trump will pull the United States out of a global climate agreement that commits nations to reducing carbon emissions. The World Bank has ranked Vietnam, whose population mostly lives in coastal areas and low-lying deltas, as one of five countries most likely to be affected by climate change.

Responding briefly to questions from reporters at the start of Wednesday’s meeting, Trump said he would decide on the Paris accord “very soon.”