Trump says Vietnam to face 20% tariff under 'great' deal
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he had struck a trade deal with Vietnam under which the country would face a minimum 20 percent tariff and open its market to US products.
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 percent US tariff, while goods that pass through Vietnam from other countries -- so-called "transshipping" -- will see a steeper 40 percent 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 percent.
Without a deal, Vietnam's "reciprocal tariff" would have risen from the baseline 10 percent to 46 percent.
Since April, Washington had so far only announced a pact with Britain and a deal to temporarily lower retaliatory duties with China.
Both involve the United States maintaining some of Trump's tariffs on the trading partners.
