Vietnam’s prime chief, To Lam, has requested President Trump to delay the imposition of tariffs for at the very least 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 can 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 vital 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 accordance with a duplicate obtained by The New York Occasions. Within the letter, Mr. Lam referred to as on Mr. Trump to nominate a U.S. consultant to steer negotiations with Ho Duc Phoc, a Vietnamese deputy prime minister, “with the objective of reaching an settlement as quickly as doable.”
Mr. Lam had been one of many first world leaders to succeed in out to Mr. Trump after the tariffs had been introduced. In a cellphone name, he supplied to scale back tariffs on U.S. imports to zero, and urged Mr. Trump to do the identical, in accordance with the Vietnamese authorities. Vietnam has stated its tariffs on U.S. items is a median of 9.4 %.
Mr. Trump later described the decision as “very productive.”
In his letter, Mr. Lam requested Mr. Trump to satisfy him in particular person in Washington on the finish of Could “to collectively come to an settlement on this vital matter, for the advantage of each our peoples and to contribute to peace, stability and improvement within the area and the world.”
Vietnam’s International Ministry didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Vietnam, which faces punishingly excessive tariffs together with China, Cambodia and Laos, can be the hardest-hit financial system in Asia if the tariffs are imposed as deliberate on Wednesday, in accordance with economists. The US 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, in accordance with ING, a Dutch monetary companies firm.
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 international funding with low cost labor and a younger work pressure. It’s now a prime producer of manufacturers equivalent 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. international coverage. Though Vietnam fought a brutal, decades-long struggle in opposition to america, surveys had proven that many Vietnamese welcomed the political and strategic affect of america.
The Biden administration considered 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 important 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 approach. He doesn’t see allies or strategic values. He simply sees numbers and tariffs, so Vietnam must strive more durable.”
Analysts say Vietnam had a largely constructive opinion of Mr. Trump throughout his first administration, seeing him as a practical 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., price $123.5 billion. (Vietnam disputed that calculation.)
The tariffs come at a precarious time for Mr. Lam, who was named as normal secretary of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Celebration final 12 months after the dying of the earlier social gathering chief, Nguyen Phu Trong. Mr. Lam must safe a powerful financial efficiency as he heads into subsequent 12 months’s social gathering congress, the place the nation’s prime leaders might 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, reduce 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 creating a $1.5 billion golf course and lodge undertaking in Vietnam’s northern Hung Yen province, Mr. Lam’s residence province.
Alexandra Stevenson contributed reporting.