Vietnam’s prime chief, To Lam, has requested President Trump to delay the imposition of tariffs for not less than 45 days so the 2 sides can avert a transfer that will devastate the Vietnamese financial system and lift costs for American customers.
The 46 % tariff price america has stated it’ll impose on Vietnam is among the many highest any nation faces. The prospect of such a steep tariff has left Vietnam with a way of whiplash and deep apprehension. It additionally presents a pointy distinction to Washington’s latest embrace of Hanoi as an necessary bulwark in opposition to China and a producing vacation spot for a lot of American attire manufacturers.
Mr. Lam’s proposal to President Trump was specified by a letter dated Saturday, in line with a replica obtained by The New York Occasions. Within the letter, Mr. Lam known as on Mr. Trump to nominate a U.S. consultant to guide negotiations with Ho Duc Phoc, a Vietnamese deputy prime minister, “with the objective of reaching an settlement as quickly as attainable.”
Mr. Lam had been one of many first world leaders to achieve out to Mr. Trump after the tariffs were announced. In a cellphone name, he provided to cut back tariffs on U.S. imports to zero, and urged Mr. Trump to do the identical, in line with the Vietnamese authorities. Vietnam has stated its tariffs on U.S. items is a mean of 9.4 %.
Mr. Trump later described the decision as “very productive.”
In his letter, Mr. Lam requested Mr. Trump to satisfy him in individual in Washington on the finish of Could “to collectively come to an settlement on this necessary matter, for the advantage of each our peoples and to contribute to peace, stability and growth within the area and the world.”
Vietnam’s Overseas Ministry didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Vietnam, which faces punishingly excessive tariffs together with China, Cambodia and Laos, could be the hardest-hit financial system in Asia if the tariffs are imposed as deliberate on Wednesday, in line with economists. The USA is Vietnam’s largest export market, accounting for about 30 % of the nation’s complete exports. A 46 % tariff price would put 5.5 % of Vietnam’s gross home product in danger, according to ING, a Dutch financial services company.
It might additionally harm American customers, as a result of Vietnam is essential within the world manufacturing provide chain. For many years, the nation has constructed its financial system round attracting overseas funding with low cost labor and a younger work power. It’s now a prime producer of manufacturers similar to Adidas and Lululemon. Nike makes about 50 % of its footwear in Vietnam.
After Mr. Trump imposed tariffs on China throughout his first time period, Vietnam benefited from firms shifting their manufacturing there.
Inside Hanoi, the latest strikes by the Trump administration have solid doubts on the reliability of america, which lately has assiduously courted Vietnam. In 2023, the 2 former enemies cemented a brand new strategic relationship, a transfer seen as a milestone in U.S. overseas coverage. Regardless that Vietnam fought a brutal, decades-long battle in opposition to america, surveys had proven that many Vietnamese welcomed the political and strategic affect of america.
The Biden administration seen Vietnam — one of many few Southeast Asian nations that has publicly pushed again in opposition to China’s assertiveness within the South China Sea — as crucial to the U.S. effort to counter China’s mounting ambitions within the area.
“Vietnam’s place within the Pacific, its view on China, its willingness to work with America, was its strongest card,” stated Huong Le Thu, the deputy program director for Asia for the Worldwide Disaster Group. “Trump doesn’t see it that means. He doesn’t see allies or strategic values. He simply sees numbers and tariffs, so Vietnam must strive tougher.”
Analysts say Vietnam had a largely optimistic opinion of Mr. Trump throughout his first administration, seeing him as a realistic businessman who wouldn’t moralize with them over human rights.
Whereas explaining the tariffs, Mr. Trump stated: “Vietnam: nice negotiators, nice individuals, they like me. I like them.” He stated “the issue” was that the nation costs america “90 %,” a determine apparently reached by basing it on Vietnam’s present commerce surplus with the U.S., value $123.5 billion. (Vietnam disputed that calculation.)
The tariffs come at a precarious time for Mr. Lam, who was named as general secretary of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Occasion final yr after the demise of the earlier social gathering chief, Nguyen Phu Trong. Mr. Lam must safe a robust financial efficiency as he heads into subsequent yr’s social gathering congress, the place the nation’s prime leaders will likely be chosen.
Even earlier than Mr. Trump’s tariff announcement, Vietnam was working to win favor with the brand new administration. It signed provisional offers to import U.S. liquefied pure gasoline, lower some tariffs on American imports, and allowed SpaceX to open an organization to launch its Starlink satellite tv for pc web service in Vietnam. The Trump group is growing a $1.5 billion golf course and lodge undertaking in Vietnam’s northern Hung Yen province, Mr. Lam’s house province.
Alexandra Stevenson contributed reporting.
