Trump says Vietnam to face 20pct tariff under 'great' deal
The deal comes a week ahead of Trump's self-imposed July 9 deadline for steeper tariffs on US trade partners to take effect if agreements had not been reached.
Trump initially announced that the trade deal had been reached, without providing details.
Shares in clothing companies and sport equipment manufacturers -- which have a large footprint in Vietnam -- rose on the news, but later declined sharply after the president released details including the continued tariffs.
"It is my Great Honor to announce that I have just made a Trade Deal with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam after speaking with To Lam, the Highly Respected General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
He said that under the "Great Deal of Cooperation," imports of Vietnamese goods will face a 20 per cent US tariff, while goods that pass through Vietnam from other countries -- so-called "transshipping" -- will see a steeper 40 per cent tariff.
"In return, Vietnam will do something that they have never done before, give the United States of America TOTAL ACCESS to their Markets for Trade," he said.
"In other words, they will 'OPEN THEIR MARKET TO THE UNITED STATES,' meaning that we will be able to sell our product into Vietnam at ZERO Tariff," he added.
The president said he believed US-made SUVs, "which do so well in the United States, will be a wonderful addition to the various product lines within Vietnam."
Trump's announcement comes a week before the US has threatened to reimpose steep tariffs on dozens of economies, including the EU and Japan, many of which are still scrambling to reach deals that would protect them from the measures.
Those higher tariffs are part of a package Trump initially imposed in April, citing a lack of "reciprocity" in trading relationships, before announcing a temporary lowering to 10 per cent.
Without a deal, Vietnam's "reciprocal tariff" would have risen from the baseline 10 per cent to 46 per cent.
Since April, Washington had so far only announced a pact with Britain and a deal to temporarily lower retaliatory duties with China.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
17 minutes ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Regulators warn Air India Express over delayed Airbus engine fix, forged records
The engine issue in Air India Express's Airbus was raised months before the June Boeing Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad. (EPA Images pic) NEW DELHI : India's aviation watchdog reprimanded Air India's budget carrier in March for not timely changing engine parts of an Airbus A320 as directed by the EU's aviation safety agency, and falsifying records to show compliance, a government memo showed. In a statement, Air India Express told Reuters it acknowledged the error to the Indian watchdog and undertook 'remedial action and preventive measures'. Air India has been under intense scrutiny since the June Boeing Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad which killed all but one of the 242 people onboard. The world's worst aviation disaster in a decade is still being investigated. The engine issue in the Air India Express's Airbus was raised on March 18, months before the crash. However, the regulator has this year also warned parent Air India for breaching rules for flying three Airbus planes with overdue checks on escape slides, and in June warned it about 'serious violations' of pilot duty timings. Air India Express is a subsidiary of Air India, which is owned by the Tata Group. It has more than 115 aircraft and flies to more than 50 destinations, with 500 daily flights. The EU Aviation Safety Agency in 2023 issued an airworthiness directive to address a 'potential unsafe condition' on CFM International LEAP-1A engines, asking for replacement of some components such as engine seals and rotating parts, saying some manufacturing deficiencies had been found. The agency's directive said 'this condition, if not corrected, could lead to failure of affected parts, possibly resulting in high energy debris release, with consequent damage to, and reduced control of, the aeroplane.' The Indian government's confidential memo in March sent to the airline, seen by Reuters, said that surveillance by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) revealed the parts modification 'was not complied' on an engine of an Airbus A320 'within the prescribed time limit'. 'In order to show that the work has been carried out within the prescribed limits, the AMOS records have apparently been altered/forged,' the memo added, referring to the Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Operating System software used by airlines to manage maintenance and airworthiness. The 'mandatory' modification was required on Air India Express' VT-ATD plane, the memo added. That plane typically flies on domestic routes and some international destinations such as Dubai and Muscat, according to the AirNav Radar website. The lapse 'indicates that accountable manager has failed to ensure quality control,' it added. Air India Express told Reuters its technical team missed the scheduled implementation date for parts replacement due to the migration of records on its monitoring software, and fixed the problem soon after it was identified. It did not give dates of compliance or directly address DGCA's comment about records being altered, but said that after the March memo it took 'necessary administrative actions', which included removing the quality manager from their position and suspending the deputy continuing airworthiness manager. The DGCA and the European safety agency did not respond to Reuters queries. Airbus and CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric and Safran, also did not respond. 'The lapse was first flagged during a DGCA audit in October 2024 and the plane in question took only a few trips after it was supposed to replace the CFM engine parts,' a source with direct knowledge said. 'Such issues should be fixed immediately. It's a grave mistake. The risk increases when you are flying over sea or near restricted airpsace,' said Vibhuti Singh, a former legal expert at the India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. The Indian government told parliament in February that authorities warned or fined airlines in 23 instances for safety violations last year. Three of those cases involved Air India Express, and eight Air India.
Free Malaysia Today
19 minutes ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Under-pressure Hezbollah weighs scaling back its arsenal
Hezbollah is now considering turning over some weapons that it has in Lebanon. (AFP pic) BEIRUT : Hezbollah has begun a major strategic review in the wake of its devastating war with Israel, including considering scaling back its role as an armed movement without disarming completely, three sources familiar with the deliberations say. The internal discussions, which aren't yet finalised and haven't previously been reported, reflect the formidable pressures the Iran-backed Lebanese resistance group has faced since a truce was reached in late November. Israeli forces continue to strike areas where the group holds sway, accusing Hezbollah of ceasefire violations, which it denies. It is also grappling with acute financial strains, US demands for its disarmament and diminished political clout since a new cabinet took office in February with US support. The group's difficulties have been compounded by seismic shifts in the regional power balance since Israel decimated its command, killed thousands of its fighters and destroyed much of its arsenal last year. Hezbollah's Syrian ally, Bashar al-Assad, was toppled in December, severing a key arms supply line from Iran. Tehran is now emerging from its own bruising war with Israel, raising doubts over how much aid it can offer, a regional security source and a senior Lebanese official told Reuters. Another senior official, who is familiar with Hezbollah's internal deliberations, said the group had been holding clandestine discussions on its next steps. Small committees have been meeting in person or remotely to discuss issues including its leadership structure, political role, social and development work, and weapons, the official said on condition of anonymity. The official and two other sources familiar with the discussions indicated Hezbollah has concluded that the arsenal it had amassed to deter Israel from attacking Lebanon had become a liability. Hezollah 'had an excess of power', the official said. 'All that strength turned into a weak point.' Under the leadership of Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed last year, Hezbollah grew into a regional military player with tens of thousands of fighters, rockets and drones poised to strike Israel. It also provided support to allies in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Israel came to regard Hezbollah as a significant threat. When the group opened fire in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas at the start of the Gaza war in 2023, Israel responded with airstrikes in Lebanon that escalated into a ground offensive. Hezbollah has since relinquished a number of weapons depots in southern Lebanon to the Lebanese armed forces as stipulated in last year's truce, though Israel says it has struck military infrastructure there still linked to the group. Hezbollah is now considering turning over some weapons it has elsewhere in the country – notably missiles and drones seen as the biggest threat to Israel – on condition Israel withdraws from the south and halts its attacks, the sources said. But the group won't surrender its entire arsenal, the sources said. For example, it intends to keep lighter arms and anti-tank missiles, they said, describing them as a means to resist any future attacks. Hezbollah's media office did not respond to questions for this article. Isreal's military said it would continue operating along its northern border in accordance with the understandings between Israel and Lebanon, in order eliminate any threat and protect Israeli citizens. The US state department declined to comment on private diplomatic conversations, referring questions to Lebanon's government. Lebanon's presidency did not respond to questions. For Hezbollah to preserve any military capabilities would fall short of Israeli and US ambitions. Under the terms of the ceasefire brokered by the US and France, Lebanon's armed forces were to confiscate 'all unauthorized arms', beginning in the area south of the Litani River – the zone closest to Israel. Lebanon's government also wants Hezbollah to surrender the rest of its weapons as it works to establish a state monopoly on arms. Failure to do so could stir tensions with the group's Lebanese rivals, which accuse Hezbollah of leveraging its military might to impose its will in state affairs and repeatedly dragging Lebanon into conflicts. All sides have said they remain committed to the ceasefire, even as they traded accusations of violations. Part of Hezbollah's 'DNA' Israeli forces continue to strike areas in Lebanon where Hezbollah holds sway. (EPA Images pic) Arms have been central to Hezbollah's doctrine since it was founded by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to fight Israeli forces who invaded Lebanon in 1982, at the height of the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war. Tensions over the Shi'ite Muslim group's arsenal sparked another, brief civil conflict in 2008. The US and Israel deem Hezbollah a terrorist group. Nicholas Blanford, who wrote a history of Hezbollah, said that in order to reconstitute itself, the group would have to justify its retention of weapons in an increasingly hostile political landscape, while addressing damaging intelligence breaches and ensuring its long-term finances. 'They've faced challenges before, but not this number simultaneously,' said Blanford, a fellow with the Atlantic Council, a US think tank. A European official familiar with intelligence assessments said there was a lot of brainstorming underway within Hezbollah about its future but no clear outcomes. The official described Hezbollah's status as an armed group as part of its DNA, saying it would be difficult for it to become a purely political party. Nearly a dozen sources familiar with Hezbollah's thinking said the group wants to keep some arms, not only in case of future threats from Israel, but also because it is worried that Sunni Muslim jihadists in neighbouring Syria might exploit lax security to attack eastern Lebanon, a Shi'ite-majority region. Despite the catastrophic results of the latest war with Israel – tens of thousands of people were left homeless and swathes of the south and Beirut's southern suburbs were destroyed – many of Hezbollah's core supporters want it to remain armed. Um Hussein, whose son died fighting for Hezbollah, cited the threat still posed by Israel and a history of conflict with Lebanese rivals as reasons to do so. 'Hezbollah is the backbone of the Shi'ites, even if it is weak now,' she said, asking to be identified by a traditional nickname because members of her family still belong to Hezbollah. 'We were a weak, poor group. Nobody spoke up for us.' Hezbollah's immediate priority is tending to the needs of constituents who bore the brunt of the war, the sources familiar with its deliberations said. In December, secretary-general Naim Qassem said Hezbollah had paid more than US$50 million to affected families with more than US$25 million still to hand out. But there are signs that its funds are running short. One Beirut resident said he had paid for repairs to his apartment in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs after it was damaged in the war only to see the entire block destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in June. 'Everyone is scattered and homeless. No one has promised to pay for our shelter,' said the man, who declined to be identified for fear his complaints might jeopardise his chances of receiving compensation. He said he had received cheques from Hezbollah but was told by the group's financial institution, Al-Qard Al-Hassan, that it did not have funds available to cash them. Reuters could not immediately reach the institution for comment. Other indications of financial strain have included cutbacks to free medications offered by Hezbollah-run pharmacies, three people familiar with the operations said. Squeezing Hezbollah finances Hezbollah has put the onus on Lebanon's government to secure reconstruction funding. But foreign minister Youssef Raji, a Hezbollah critic, has said there will be no aid from foreign donors until the state establishes a monopoly on arms. A state department spokesman said in May that, while Washington was engaged in supporting sustainable reconstruction in Lebanon, 'this cannot happen without Hezbollah laying down their arms'. Israel has also been squeezing Hezbollah's finances. The Israeli military said on June 25 that it had killed an Iranian official who oversaw hundreds of millions of dollars in transfers annually to armed groups in the region, as well as a man in southern Lebanon who ran a currency exchange business that helped get some of these funds to Hezbollah. Iran did not comment at the time, and its UN mission did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters. Since February, Lebanon has barred commercial flights between Beirut and Tehran, after Israel's military accused Hezbollah of using civilian aircraft to bring in money from Iran and threatened to take action to stop this. Lebanese authorities have also tightened security at Beirut airport, where Hezbollah had free rein for years, making it harder for the group to smuggle in funds that way, according to an official and a security source familiar with airport operations. Such moves have fuelled anger among Hezbollah's supporters towards the administration led by president Joseph Aoun and Nawaf Salam, who was made prime minister against Hezbollah's wishes. Alongside its Shi'ite ally, the Amal Movement, Hezbollah swept local elections in May, with many seats uncontested. The group will be seeking to preserve its dominance in legislative elections next year. Nabil Boumonsef, deputy editor-in-chief of Lebanon's Annahar newspaper, said next year's poll was part of an 'existential battle' for Hezbollah. 'It will use all the means it can, firstly to play for time so it doesn't have to disarm, and secondly to make political and popular gains,' he said.
Free Malaysia Today
20 minutes ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Hamas consulting other Palestinian groups on Gaza truce proposal
Nearly 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for the people of Gaza. (EPA Images pic) GAZA CITY : Hamas said today it was holding consultations with other Palestinian movements on a truce proposal in the war with Israel, in a possible sign that it was preparing for negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza. The statement came ahead of a visit on Monday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, where President Donald Trump is pushing for an end to the war. The conflict in Gaza began with Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, which sparked a massive Israeli offensive aimed at destroying Hamas and bringing home all the hostages seized by militants. Two previous ceasefires mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US have seen a temporary halt in fighting, coupled with the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. 'The movement is conducting consultations with leaders of Palestinian forces and factions regarding the proposal received… from the mediators,' Hamas said in a statement early today. Hours earlier, Netanyahu vowed to bring home all the hostages held by rebels in Gaza, after coming under massive domestic pressure including from the hostages' loved ones over their fate. 'I feel a deep commitment, first and foremost, to ensure the return of all our abductees, all of them,' Netanyahu told inhabitants of the Nir Oz kibbutz, the community that saw the most hostages seized in the 2023 Hamas attack. Trump yesterday said he wanted 'safety' for people in Gaza, as he prepared to host his ally. 'I want to see safety for the people of Gaza. They've gone through hell,' he said. 60-day truce proposal A Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations told AFP earlier this week that there were no fundamental changes in the new proposal under discussion compared to previous terms presented by the US. The source said the new proposal 'includes a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release half of the living Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip, in exchange for Israel releasing a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees'. Earlier this week, Israel's top diplomat Gideon Saar said any chance to free the hostages 'must not be missed', after Trump urged Hamas to agree to a 60-day ceasefire that he said had Israel's backing. Nearly 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than 2 million people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has recently expanded its military operations against Hamas fighters. Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian gunmen during the Oct 7 attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Today, Gaza's civil defence agency said that overnight Israeli strikes killed at least 15 people. Civil defence official Mohammad al-Mughayyir told AFP that seven people, including a child, were killed in an Israeli air strike on displaced people's tents near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. Mughayyir said eight more people were killed in two other strikes on tent encampments on the coast of Khan Younis, including one that killed two children early today. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it could not comment on specific attacks without precise coordinates, but noted it was 'operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities'. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence. Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in response to the Oct 7, 2023 attacks, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 57,130 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable.
