HANOI (Reuters) -Vietnam will continue trade negotiations with the United States while seeking to sign free trade deals with other markets, the prime minister said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the country is targeting export growth of 12% this year.

Vietnam aims to sign free trade agreements with Mercosur and Gulf Cooperation Council countries in the fourth quarter of this year, Pham Minh Chinh said in a statement posted on the government’s website on Wednesday.

The United States, Vietnam’s biggest market, imposed a 20% tariff on Vietnamese goods from August 7, while transshipments from third countries through Vietnam face a levy of 40%.

The statement said exports “will face difficulties and challenges…due to strategic competition, conflicts and the U.S.’s ‘reciprocal’ tarif

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