Posted on 04/13/2025 10:30:14 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
QUANG NINH, Vietnam — When Le Ngoc Tham became sales manager for a new industrial park in northern Vietnam, the goal was to turn it into an easy alternative for manufacturers leaving China to avoid the tariffs of the first U.S.-Sino trade war.
Three years later, with less than half of the 1,716-acre project completed, dozens of companies interested in leasing the land are having second thoughts. The source of hesitation is President Trump’s latest tariffs, which, as announced earlier this month, included a 46% tax on imports from Vietnam, the country’s eighth-largest trading partner.
But even though Trump announced a 90-day temporary stay on the new duties on Wednesday, and the administration said late Friday that it would exclude certain electronics from “reciprocal” tariffs, Vietnam isn’t exactly in the clear.
A 46% tariff rate, which is higher than most other nations, would make Vietnam-made products noncompetitive in the U.S., its largest export market. Both buyers and producers of those goods would likely turn to countries facing lower rates, dragging down industrial activity and foreign investment in Vietnamese manufacturing.
“In the short term, that will be a hit to manufacturers,” said Le, who works for the Amata Corp., an industrial real estate company based in Thailand. “So the question they ask us is: What are we going to do next?” While the owners of factories that have broken ground here have little recourse, about 40 companies that have inquired about building facilities are hitting pause — one-fifth of which were in the final stages of investment, she said.
Vietnam benefited substantially after Trump imposed tariffs on China in 2018, as companies producing goods for the U.S. there turned to Vietnam. In Quang Ninh province and the neighboring port city of Haiphong, the arrival of high-tech manufacturing, including...
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
No one understands Trump’s thinking on tariffs. Here are the top guesses
“It’s very likely the dominant theme of Vietnam going forward will be how to be more efficient, more productive,” Francois said. “This is the single focus of the Vietnamese strategy to keep growing.”
Which is why Trump put tariffs on Vietnam this time as well.
Vietnam hates China. They were at war with China in 1979.
Who do you think are leasing those plots in Viet Nam to build factories? The Chinese. Shipping their workers over and running production out of Viet Nam. They know the world and trump are after then, it is part of their end game.
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