The United States will place a lower-than-promised 20% tariff on many Vietnamese exports, Donald Trump said on Wednesday, cooling tensions with its tenth-biggest trading partner days before the U.S. president could raise levies on most imports.

Pressure for trade deals is mounting as the temporary reduction of Trump's reciprocal tariffs is set to end in a matter of days.

The Trump administration’s new trade deal with Vietnam aims to shut down any “backdoor” routes that allow Chinese goods to