US President Donald Trump has talked trade with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during a White House visit and welcomed the signing of business deals worth billions of dollars and the jobs they would create.
The US Commerce Department announced 13 new transactions with Vietnam worth $US8 billion ($A11 billion), including $3 billion worth of US-produced content that would support more than 23,000 American jobs.
These include deals for General Electric Co worth $5.58 billion for power generation, aircraft engines and services, its largest-ever combined sale in Vietnam.
Caterpillar Inc and its dealer in Vietnam also agreed to provide generator management technology for more than 100 generators in Vietnam, the company said.
"They (Vietnam) just made a very large order in the United States - and we appreciate that - for many billions of dollars, which means jobs for the United States and great, great equipment for Vietnam," Trump told reporters at the White House.
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The Commerce Department estimate of the deals was considerably less than the $15 billion figure given by Phuc during a speech at the Heritage Foundation, adding that most of the total involved the import of US equipment.
Communist Vietnam has gone from being a Cold War enemy to an important partner for the United States in the Asia-Pacific, where both countries share concerns about China's rising power.
Phuc told Trump the relationship had undergone "significant upheavals in history" but that the two countries were now "comprehensive partners".
Phuc's meeting with Trump makes him the first Southeast Asian leader to visit the White House under the new administration.
