The president said he had agreed to initial trade terms with Vietnam, the second country to strike a limited deal after Mr. Trump threatened steep tariffs.The New York Times reports that President Trump announced on Wednesday that the United States has reached a preliminary trade deal with Vietnam. This marks the second country to strike a limited deal with the US after Mr. Trump threatened to impose steep tariffs.
Under the agreement, Vietnam has agreed to open its market to American goods in exchange for the US rolling back some of the tariffs on Vietnamese products. This deal will also indirectly affect China, a major trading partner of Vietnam.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump stated that the deal will result in “Great Deal of Cooperation” between the two countries. The agreement includes a 20% tariff on all imports from Vietnam and a 40% tariff on any “transshipping.” This provision aims to address the Trump administration’s concerns that Vietnam has become a channel for Chinese manufacturers to bypass US tariffs and export goods to the US.
It is unclear which products will fall under the higher tariff rate, but it could refer to goods imported from Vietnam that originated in China or Vietnamese products that use a significant amount of Chinese parts. The deal may also include a lower tariff for goods made in Vietnam with fewer Chinese components and a higher tariff for those with many Chinese parts.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wrote on X that “if another country sells their content through products exported by Vietnam to us – they’ll get hit with a 40% tariff.” This deal is still subject to further negotiations and could potentially change in the future.
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