Latest news with #VietnamDeal
Japan Times
a day ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Vietnam steals a march and leaves Japan in a tough spot on U.S. tariffs
A tariff deal negotiated between the United States and Vietnam has set a high bar for Japan, which has made no concrete progress over 11 weeks of intense trade talks with Washington and has earned itself the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump in the process. 'Even after a round of negotiations like this, it's clear that some tariffs will remain,' said Akihiko Yasui, research director at Mizuho Research and Technologies, in discussing the Vietnam deal. 'And more importantly, it was the higher-rate tariffs that were in fact on the table.' In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump said a 20% tariff will be imposed on Vietnamese exports to the U.S., lower than the original 46% "reciprocal" tariff announced on April 4. Goods transshipped to the U.S. via Vietnam will be subject to a 40% levy. American exports to Vietnam will be allowed to enter the country duty-free. 'It will be a great deal of cooperation between our two countries,' Trump wrote. Japan has all along insisted that tariffs introduced by the Trump administration be rolled back as a precondition to a deal. The U.S. has countered that the only subject up for negotiation is the reciprocal tariffs, now at 10% but set to rise to 24% for Japan on July 9. The Vietnam deal confirmed that the U.S. stance hasn't changed and that a wide gap remains between the positions of Japan, which has yet to make any major concessions, and the U.S., which is demanding big concessions in exchange for a lowering of the higher reciprocal rate. 'In Japan's case, there's very little that the U.S. can point to and say, 'We won this.' That makes the situation quite difficult for Japan,' said Yasui. 'Japan doesn't have much to concede, and even what we could get in return doesn't strike at the core of our interests.' The United States has reported two other trade deals, one with the United Kingdom and the other with China, but they were quite unique and of limited value in gauging the stance U.S. negotiators would take with other countries. The U.K. runs a trade deficit with the U.S., while the China deal involved a number of special considerations, not the least of which is the country's lock on certain rare earths. Vietnam's position is closer to that of many other countries still in talks with the U.S., including Japan. It has a huge trade surplus with the U.S., has been accused of using nontariff barriers and has no ace to play in negotiations. Trade officials in the United States remain optimistic but guarded and vague when discussing talks with Japan. In a CNBC interview on Wednesday, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender said that the U.S. anticipates making announcements on the negotiations with some other countries before the July 9 deadline. 'Japan is among those that we have had a number of conversations,' Faulkender said. 'We continue to make good progress with them and hope to have an announcement shortly on the progress that we have made.' He also said that if countries move to address nontariff barriers, that could 'change the calculus for us on where our tariff barrier ends up.' Trump himself has been signaling more of a hard line. He personally slammed Japan for three days running this week, saying that it's "spoiled" and complaining about its unwillingness to accept U.S. vehicles and rice. On Tuesday, he said that tariffs on Japanese imports could be taken as high as 35%. The United States might demand a cap on the number of Japanese vehicles exported to the United States if no deal can be reached soon, according to a Wall Street Journal article on Wednesday. Japan has remained silent regarding Trump's verbal onslaught and has stuck to its talking points. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba reiterated in three different settings that Japan sees investment in the United States as the best way to address its trade surplus with the country. The Trump administration has placed an additional 25% tariff on vehicles and auto parts and a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum, and the 10% baseline reciprocal tariff on most other goods. The ball is in Japan's court now, Yasui said. But the U.S. demands require Japan to make concessions that are nearly politically impossible. 'Trump has been dropping hints — about rice, for example. But if Japan's position is, 'We have elections, we can't touch rice,' or 'We can't use agriculture to save auto exports,' then that basically means we're out of ammo,' Yasui said. 'This really is a political judgment,' he went on. 'It is not that Japan can't do anything. The issue is whether Japan chooses to make such decisions or prepares itself for a long-term standoff.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Asian shares mostly higher after US stocks hit another record as Tesla and Nike rally
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian shares mostly gained on Thursday after U.S. stocks hit another all-time high. U.S. futures edged up while oil prices fell. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 inched up 0.1% to 39,794.16. In South Korea, the Kospi added 1% to 3,106.46, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.1% to 8,589.30. The Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 1% to 23,976.41. The Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.1% to 3,57.36. Taiwan's TAIEX surged 1.4% while India's Sensex rose 0.3% Mizuho Bank, Ltd., in a commentary, said there is lopsided optimism about Vietnam's deal with the US, with Vietnamese imports subject to 20% tariffs in return for 0% tariffs on U.S. goods. 'A higher 40% tariff on goods deemed to be transshipped via Vietnam could accentuate risks to and from China,' it said, adding that 'other Asian economies will be particularly vulnerable to a two-sided geoeconomic squeeze given that their reliance on both China and U.S. are significant.' President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he reached a deal with Vietnam, where U.S. products sold in the country will face zero tariffs and Vietnamese-made goods will face a U.S. tariff of 20%. That helped companies that import lots of things from Vietnam, including Nike, whose stock rose 4.1%. Factories in Vietnam made half of all Nike brand footwear in its fiscal year of 2024. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and set a record for the third time in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down by 10 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.9%. Tesla helped drive the market higher and rose 5% after saying it delivered nearly 374,000 of its Model 3 and Model Y automobiles last quarter. That was better than analysts expected, though the electric-vehicle maker's overall sales fell 13% from a year earlier. Worries have been high that CEO Elon Musk's involvement in politics is turning off potential Tesla buyers. Constellation Brands climbed 4.5% despite reporting a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It pointed to slowing growth for jobs in the construction industry and other '4000 calorie+' sectors, which tends to hurt demand for its beer. But the company selling Modelo beer and Robert Mondavi wine nevertheless stuck with its financial forecasts for the full upcoming year. They helped offset a 40.4% drop for Centene. The health care company withdrew its forecasts for profit this year after seeing data that suggests worse-than-expected sickness trends in many of the states where it does business. It was the worst day for the stock since its debut in 2001. All told, the S&P 500 rose 29.41 points to 6,227.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 10.52 to 44,484.42, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 190.24 to 20,393.13. In the bond market, Treasury yields were mixed ahead of a highly anticipated report on Thursday, which will show how many jobs U.S. employers created and destroyed last month. The widespread expectation is that they hired more people than they fired but that the pace of hiring slowed from May. A stunningly weak report released Wednesday morning raised worries that Thursday's report may fall short. The data from ADP suggested that U.S. employers outside the government cut 33,000 jobs from their payrolls last month, when economists were expecting to see growth of 115,000 jobs. The ADP report does not have a perfect track record predicting what the U.S. government's more comprehensive jobs report will say each month. That preserves hope that Thursday's data could be more encouraging. But a fear has been that uncertainty around President Donald Trump's tariffs could cause employers to freeze their hiring. Many of Trump's stiff proposed taxes on imports are currently on pause, and they're scheduled to kick into effect in about a week. Unless Trump reaches deals with other countries to lower the tariffs, they could hurt the economy and worsen inflation. Other factors could also be dragging on the job market, such as the U.S. government's termination of protected status for 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to deportation. That alone could create a drag on payrolls of 25,000 jobs, according to Goldman Sachs economist David Mericle, whose forecast for Thursday's report is weaker than many of his peers. In other dealings on Thursday, the benchmark U.S. crude lost 45 cents to $67, while Brent crude, the international standard, shed 47 cents to $68.64. The dollar was trading at 143.77 Japanese yen, up from 143.65 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1790. Teresa Cerojano, The Associated Press
The Independent
a day ago
- Automotive
- The Independent
Asian shares mostly higher after US stocks hit another record as Tesla and Nike rally
Asian shares mostly gained on Thursday after U.S. stocks hit another all-time high. U.S. futures edged up while oil prices fell. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 inched up 0.1% to 39,794.16. In South Korea, the Kospi added 1% to 3,106.46, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.1% to 8,589.30. The Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 1% to 23,976.41. The Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.1% to 3,57.36. Taiwan's TAIEX surged 1.4% while India's Sensex rose 0.3% Mizuho Bank, Ltd., in a commentary, said there is lopsided optimism about Vietnam's deal with the US, with Vietnamese imports subject to 20% tariffs in return for 0% tariffs on U.S. goods. 'A higher 40% tariff on goods deemed to be transshipped via Vietnam could accentuate risks to and from China,' it said, adding that 'other Asian economies will be particularly vulnerable to a two-sided geoeconomic squeeze given that their reliance on both China and U.S. are significant.' President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he reached a deal with Vietnam, where U.S. products sold in the country will face zero tariffs and Vietnamese-made goods will face a U.S. tariff of 20%. That helped companies that import lots of things from Vietnam, including Nike, whose stock rose 4.1%. Factories in Vietnam made half of all Nike brand footwear in its fiscal year of 2024. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and set a record for the third time in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down by 10 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.9%. Tesla helped drive the market higher and rose 5% after saying it delivered nearly 374,000 of its Model 3 and Model Y automobiles last quarter. That was better than analysts expected, though the electric-vehicle maker's overall sales fell 13% from a year earlier. Worries have been high that CEO Elon Musk's involvement in politics is turning off potential Tesla buyers. Constellation Brands climbed 4.5% despite reporting a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It pointed to slowing growth for jobs in the construction industry and other '4000 calorie+' sectors, which tends to hurt demand for its beer. But the company selling Modelo beer and Robert Mondavi wine nevertheless stuck with its financial forecasts for the full upcoming year. They helped offset a 40.4% drop for Centene. The health care company withdrew its forecasts for profit this year after seeing data that suggests worse-than-expected sickness trends in many of the states where it does business. It was the worst day for the stock since its debut in 2001. All told, the S&P 500 rose 29.41 points to 6,227.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 10.52 to 44,484.42, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 190.24 to 20,393.13. In the bond market, Treasury yields were mixed ahead of a highly anticipated report on Thursday, which will show how many jobs U.S. employers created and destroyed last month. The widespread expectation is that they hired more people than they fired but that the pace of hiring slowed from May. A stunningly weak report released Wednesday morning raised worries that Thursday's report may fall short. The data from ADP suggested that U.S. employers outside the government cut 33,000 jobs from their payrolls last month, when economists were expecting to see growth of 115,000 jobs. The ADP report does not have a perfect track record predicting what the U.S. government's more comprehensive jobs report will say each month. That preserves hope that Thursday's data could be more encouraging. But a fear has been that uncertainty around President Donald Trump's tariffs could cause employers to freeze their hiring. Many of Trump's stiff proposed taxes on imports are currently on pause, and they're scheduled to kick into effect in about a week. Unless Trump reaches deals with other countries to lower the tariffs, they could hurt the economy and worsen inflation. Other factors could also be dragging on the job market, such as the U.S. government's termination of protected status for 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to deportation. That alone could create a drag on payrolls of 25,000 jobs, according to Goldman Sachs economist David Mericle, whose forecast for Thursday's report is weaker than many of his peers. In other dealings on Thursday, the benchmark U.S. crude lost 45 cents to $67, while Brent crude, the international standard, shed 47 cents to $68.64. The dollar was trading at 143.77 Japanese yen, up from 143.65 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1790.
Associated Press
a day ago
- Automotive
- Associated Press
Asian shares mostly higher after US stocks hit another record as Tesla and Nike rally
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian shares mostly gained on Thursday after U.S. stocks hit another all-time high. U.S. futures edged up while oil prices fell. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 inched up 0.1% to 39,794.16. In South Korea, the Kospi added 1% to 3,106.46, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.1% to 8,589.30. The Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 1% to 23,976.41. The Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.1% to 3,57.36. Taiwan's TAIEX surged 1.4% while India's Sensex rose 0.3% Mizuho Bank, Ltd., in a commentary, said there is lopsided optimism about Vietnam's deal with the US, with Vietnamese imports subject to 20% tariffs in return for 0% tariffs on U.S. goods. 'A higher 40% tariff on goods deemed to be transshipped via Vietnam could accentuate risks to and from China,' it said, adding that 'other Asian economies will be particularly vulnerable to a two-sided geoeconomic squeeze given that their reliance on both China and U.S. are significant.' President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he reached a deal with Vietnam, where U.S. products sold in the country will face zero tariffs and Vietnamese-made goods will face a U.S. tariff of 20%. That helped companies that import lots of things from Vietnam, including Nike, whose stock rose 4.1%. Factories in Vietnam made half of all Nike brand footwear in its fiscal year of 2024. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and set a record for the third time in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down by 10 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.9%. Tesla helped drive the market higher and rose 5% after saying it delivered nearly 374,000 of its Model 3 and Model Y automobiles last quarter. That was better than analysts expected, though the electric-vehicle maker's overall sales fell 13% from a year earlier. Worries have been high that CEO Elon Musk's involvement in politics is turning off potential Tesla buyers. Constellation Brands climbed 4.5% despite reporting a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It pointed to slowing growth for jobs in the construction industry and other '4000 calorie+' sectors, which tends to hurt demand for its beer. But the company selling Modelo beer and Robert Mondavi wine nevertheless stuck with its financial forecasts for the full upcoming year. They helped offset a 40.4% drop for Centene. The health care company withdrew its forecasts for profit this year after seeing data that suggests worse-than-expected sickness trends in many of the states where it does business. It was the worst day for the stock since its debut in 2001. All told, the S&P 500 rose 29.41 points to 6,227.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 10.52 to 44,484.42, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 190.24 to 20,393.13. In the bond market, Treasury yields were mixed ahead of a highly anticipated report on Thursday, which will show how many jobs U.S. employers created and destroyed last month. The widespread expectation is that they hired more people than they fired but that the pace of hiring slowed from May. A stunningly weak report released Wednesday morning raised worries that Thursday's report may fall short. The data from ADP suggested that U.S. employers outside the government cut 33,000 jobs from their payrolls last month, when economists were expecting to see growth of 115,000 jobs. The ADP report does not have a perfect track record predicting what the U.S. government's more comprehensive jobs report will say each month. That preserves hope that Thursday's data could be more encouraging. But a fear has been that uncertainty around President Donald Trump's tariffs could cause employers to freeze their hiring. Many of Trump's stiff proposed taxes on imports are currently on pause, and they're scheduled to kick into effect in about a week. Unless Trump reaches deals with other countries to lower the tariffs, they could hurt the economy and worsen inflation. Other factors could also be dragging on the job market, such as the U.S. government's termination of protected status for 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to deportation. That alone could create a drag on payrolls of 25,000 jobs, according to Goldman Sachs economist David Mericle, whose forecast for Thursday's report is weaker than many of his peers. In other dealings on Thursday, the benchmark U.S. crude lost 45 cents to $67, while Brent crude, the international standard, shed 47 cents to $68.64. The dollar was trading at 143.77 Japanese yen, up from 143.65 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1790.
