Latest news with #Vietnam-U.S.
CNBC
7 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
What the U.S.-Vietnam trade deal tells us about the future of tariffs
Global attention turned to Vietnam on Thursday, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Hanoi just days before Washington's reciprocal tariffs come back in full force. Under the agreement, the U.S. will apply a 20% duty on Vietnamese imports — sharply below the 46% rate Trump had imposed in early April. U.S. imports to Vietnam will meanwhile not be subject to tariffs. Trump also said that Vietnam had agreed to a 40% duty on any products that originally came from another country, but were sent to Vietnam for final shipment to the U.S. China has reportedly repeatedly relied on this practice, known as transshipping, to avoid trade barriers. Vietnam is one of the few countries that has struck a trade deal with the White House, while the clock ticks down on Trump's 90-day temporary reprieve. Many nations have been left wondering how the future of their trade relationship with the world's largest economy could shape up. "What we learned from the Vietnam deal is, if anything, the tariffs are going to go up from here, not down," Sebastian Raedler, head of European equity strategy at BofA, told CNBC's "Europe Early Edition" on Thursday. The deal could be cause for concern for other emerging market economies like Vietnam, economists and strategists at Citi said in a note Thursday. "On balance, we believe there is more for EM Asia to worry about than expect gains if this deal reflects what is to come soon," they noted. While the development removes uncertainty and suggests other agreements could emerge in the coming days, the 20% tariff rate is higher than the expected 10% levy on goods, according to Citi's experts. They add that the separate 40% rate on transshipped goods suggests other countries may also need to agree to such a duty. "Thailand followed by Malaysia might be more exposed than other EM Asia peers (apart from Vietnam). A separate and more punitive tariff on transshipped goods was least expected by the market," the note said. "Additionally, there may be spillovers to other exporters that have set up factories in Vietnam in past years," for example Korea, it added. While the Vietnam-U.S. deal suggests more deals likely lie ahead for other Asian countries, it does not necessarily mean that the same is true for the European Union, Lavanya Venkateswaran, senior ASEAN economist at OCBC Bank, told CNBC. "The Vietnamese authorities have been clear about their intent to negotiate with the US, even before the reciprocal announcements were made in April," she said by email, adding that the same was true for other regional economies like Indonesia and Malaysia. "Compared to these economies, the case with [the] EU has not always been smooth sailing and the US has been more public in its criticism of the EU at different times in the past few months," Venkateswaran said. Trade negotiations between the EU and U.S. have been challenging and slow to develop, with sources telling CNBC that a bare-bones "political" deal with scant initial details may be the the EU's best hope at this point. Analysts and economists have also expressed uncertainty about the likelihood of a trade agreement, given key sticking points like big tech regulation, taxation, and broadly mismatched world views. Trump has called for tariffs as high as 50% on the EU, while the bloc has threatened wide-ranging countermeasures, which have also been paused until next week.
The Star
a day ago
- Business
- The Star
Vietnam's party chief welcomes new trade deal with U.S.
HANOI, July 2 (Xinhua) -- General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee To Lam on Wednesday welcomed a new trade agreement with the United States during a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, Vietnam News Agency reported. He urged Washington to soon recognize Vietnam as a market economy and to lift export restrictions on certain high-tech goods. The two leaders also discussed major directions and measures to further strengthen the Vietnam-U.S. comprehensive strategic partnership in the coming years.
American Military News
26-04-2025
- Politics
- American Military News
Hanoi denies Washington will snub Vietnam War commemoration
This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission. The Vietnamese government says it is expecting a sizable U.S. presence when it marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War on April 30, despite media reports that the Trump administration told diplomats to stay away from events. Ceremonies in Ho Chi Minh City will be attended by 'delegations led by high-level leaders, political parties, international organizations, peace movements and anti-war movements, including those from the U.S.,' according to Vietnam's foreign ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang. The New York Times cited four anonymous U.S. officials as saying that the Trump administration 'recently directed senior diplomats – including the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam Ambassador Marc Knapper – to stay away from activities tied to the anniversary on April 30.' Veterans have also been told they will get no official help in organizing anniversary events, the newspaper said. Noting that the ministry had not specifically verified the contents of the New York Times report, Hang told a regular press briefing Thursday the South's surrender 50 years ago in the city then called Saigon holds a deep significance for both Vietnam and the U.S. 'Vietnam's victory on April 30, 1975 is a victory of human conscience and righteousness, one that put an end to the losses and sufferings, for not only the people of Vietnam, but also to countless American families,' state media quoted her as saying. Some U.S. officials told the New York Times that Trump may not want officials attending an event on the same day as his 100th day in office, particularly one marking a U.S. defeat. Radio Free Asia contacted the U.S. State Department to ask about the newspaper's claims but had not received a reply at the time of publishing. Hang pointed out that Vietnam-U.S. relations have been on the highest comprehensive strategic partnership level since 2023 and next week's events are intended to celebrate a spirit of cooperation. 'The April 30 anniversary is an occasion to honor the values of benevolence, of peace, of reconciliation and in the spirit of putting the past aside and striving towards the future,' said the ministry spokesperson. The report comes amid growing uncertainty in U.S.-Vietnam relations. Vietnam was hit with a steep 46% tariff on its exports to the U.S., posing a serious threat to its export-driven industrialization. The move was met with disappointment in Hanoi, where Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that it 'did not reflect the strong bilateral relations between the two nations.' Officials from two countries are reportedly in talks for a potential trade agreement, which is expected to lead to a lower tariff rate, though the extent of the adjustment remains unclear.
