Vietnam steps up talks with US to reduce hefty tariff
FILE PHOTO: Container trucks queue to enter the Hai Phong International Container Terminal, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for many countries, in Hai Phong, Vietnam, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A container ship is seen near the Hai Phong International Container Terminal, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for many countries, in Hai Phong, Vietnam, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo
Vietnam steps up talks with US to reduce hefty tariff
HANOI - Vietnam and the United States held their first direct ministerial-level negotiations on Friday against the backdrop of an impending U.S. tariff of 46% on imports from the Southeast Asian nation, which could significantly impact its growth.
The Vietnamese trade ministry said in a statement released on Saturday that the meeting, which occurred in Jeju, South Korea, following the 31st APEC Ministerial Meeting on Trade, symbolised both nations' commitment to fostering a stable economic, trade, and investment relationship.
The talks follow a phone call last month between Vietnamese trade minister Nguyen Hong Dien and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that officially started negotiations.
"USTR Greer agreed with Vietnam's current approach and proposal," the trade ministry's statement said. "The United States hopes that with the mutual efforts, the technical-level negotiations in the coming days will yield positive results."
The U.S. has postponed the implementation of the 46% tariff on Vietnam until July. If enforced, the levy could disrupt growth in Vietnam, which is heavily dependent on sales to the United States, its largest export market, and substantial foreign investments in manufacturing goods for export.
Vietnam has the fourth-largest trade surplus among all U.S. trading partners, worth $123.5 billion last year.
In an attempt to diminish that trade surplus, Hanoi has recently implemented several measures, including reducing tariffs on a multitude of goods destined for the U.S. and intensifying its efforts to curb the shipment of Chinese goods to the U.S. via its territory. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
31 minutes ago
- Straits Times
2025 could be the year when AI agents take wing, says futurist
During his recent visit to Singapore, the futurist and world-renowned scenario planner Peter Schwartz wanted to change the arrangements for his return flight. He tried to do it through the Singapore Airlines app, but that didn't work for him. So, he turned to the airline's artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital agent. 'Within seconds, it was able to update my reservation, make the booking and issue me my boarding pass,'' he says. Mr Schwartz, 78, has been working on AI since the 1970s, having written books and even movie scripts about it. Now, as Chief Futures Officer of the customer-relationship management company Salesforce, he is a champion of 'agentic AI' – whereby artificially intelligent agents, acting like virtual humans, can not only make complex decisions, but also act on them. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Bolsonaro denies orchestrating Brazil coup in Supreme Court testimony
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, attends Brazil's Supreme Court trial over alleged coup attempt, as Brazil's Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes leads the proceedings, in Brasilia, Brazil June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Diego Herculano Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attends Brazil's Supreme Court trial over an alleged coup attempt, in Brasilia, Brazil June 9, 2025. REUTERS/Diego Herculano BRASILIA - Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro denied that he led an attempt to overthrow the government after losing the 2022 election during his trial before the country's Supreme Court on Tuesday, but acknowledged taking part in meetings aimed at reversing the outcome. Bolsonaro said he and senior aides discussed alternatives to accepting the electoral results, including the possibility of deploying military forces and suspending some civil liberties, but he said those proposals were soon dropped. "The feeling was that there was nothing else we could do. We had to swallow the election results," the ex-president said. "I never acted against the Constitution," Bolsonaro added, holding a copy of the country's 1988 charter that re-established democracy after two decades of military rule. In March, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case against Bolsonaro and seven other people, including several military officers, who were charged with plotting a coup to stop Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office in January 2023. The charges stem from a two-year police investigation into the election-denying movement that culminated in riots by Bolsonaro supporters in the capital in early 2023, a week after Lula took office. Bolsonaro, who was the sixth defendant to testify in the case, spent several minutes of his two hours of testimony defending his administration's achievements and his criticism of the country's electoral system. Dozens of witnesses were previously heard by the court, an indication that the case is moving swiftly and could be concluded by the end of the year, avoiding overlap with campaigning for the 2026 presidential election. Bolsonaro has insisted he will run in that campaign, despite an electoral court decision barring him from seeking public office until 2030. On Monday, Bolsonaro attended the trial to watch testimony from Mauro Cid, his former aide turned whistleblower, and then shook his hand. Cid told the court that the former president reviewed a draft decree that was central to the coup plot and made changes, while keeping a section that ordered the arrest of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is now overseeing the case against Bolsonaro and his allies. On Tuesday, the former president said he only briefly saw the draft decree and never edited it. He also apologized for making unfounded corruption allegations about Supreme Court justices. "Forgive me," he told Moraes. A final ruling on Bolsonaro's case is expected by October. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Trump tells soldiers Los Angeles protests are national security risk
A military exercise is held during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Fort Bragg to mark the U.S. Army anniversary, in North Carolina, U.S., June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein A military exercise is held during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Fort Bragg to mark the U.S. Army anniversary, in North Carolina, U.S., June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein U.S. Army members gather on the day of U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Fort Bragg to mark the U.S. Army anniversary, in North Carolina, U.S., June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein U.S. Army members look at Marine One on the day of U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Fort Bragg to mark the U.S. Army anniversary, in North Carolina, U.S., June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Army members as he looks at a military exercise during a visit to Fort Bragg to mark the U.S. Army anniversary, in North Carolina, U.S., June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to deliver remarks during a visit to Fort Bragg to mark the U.S. Army anniversary, in North Carolina, U.S., June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein FORT BRAGG, North Carolina - President Donald Trump used a speech honoring soldiers on Tuesday to defend his decision to deploy troops to Los Angeles in a confrontation over his immigration policy. "Generations of Army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third-world lawlessness," Trump told soldiers at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. "What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and on national sovereignty, carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags," Trump added. Trump's visit to Fort Bragg, home to some 50,000 active-duty soldiers, followed his move to deploy 700 Marines and 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles in an escalating response to street protests over his immigration policies. The Republican president said the military deployment was needed to protect federal property and personnel. California's Democratic-led government has said the move is an abuse of power and an unnecessary provocation. "Not only are these service members defending the honest citizens of California, they're also defending our Republic itself," Trump said. "They are heroes." Street demonstrations in Southern California have been underway since Friday, when activists clashed with sheriff's deputies. In North Carolina, Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took part in long-scheduled commemorations of the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary, watching soldiers demonstrate a special forces assault on a building and use a long-range missile launcher. It was the first in a series of celebrations of the Army anniversary involving Trump, ahead of a major parade in Washington on Saturday. Earlier on Tuesday in the Oval Office, Trump warned against demonstrations at that parade, telling reporters "they're going to be met with very big force." The FBI and the Metropolitan Police Department have said there are no credible threats to the event. The week's Army commemorations combine Trump's penchant for patriotic pomp and his political positioning as a law-and-order president. Saturday's celebrations in Washington include thousands of troops, dozens of military aircraft and coincide with Trump's 79th birthday. The Army was established on June 14, 1775, more than a year before the Declaration of Independence. Earlier this year, Trump restored the name Fort Bragg to the base, one of the largest in the world, despite a federal law that prohibits honoring generals who fought for the South during the Civil War. His administration says the name now honors a different Bragg - Private First Class Roland Bragg, who served during World War Two. In 2023, the base had been renamed Fort Liberty, a change driven by racial justice protests. Since launching his second term in office in January, Trump has made the military a focus of his efforts, with his defense secretary working to purge transgender service members, top officials appointed under his Democratic predecessor and even books deemed out of step. The president's cost-cutting government reforms have largely spared the Defense Department's nearly $1 trillion annual budget. He has pledged to avoid international conflict while launching new weapons programs and increasing the use of the military domestically, including in immigration enforcement. Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people who are in the country illegally and to lock down the U.S.-Mexico border, setting the ICE border enforcement agency a daily goal of arresting at least 3,000 migrants. Demonstrators in Los Angeles have assembled, among other places, at a government facility where immigrants are detained. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
