To mollify Trump and avoid stinging US tariffs, Vietnam to target some China trade

Hanoi aims to ease US levies by cracking down on Chinese transshipments and tightening export controls

Reading Time:4 minutes

The US claims that China uses Hanoi as a conduit to obtain lower tariffs for goods that do not have significant Vietnamese involvement. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:20pm, 11 Apr 2025

In hope of avoiding punishing US tariffs, Vietnam is prepared to crack down on Chinese goods being shipped to the United States via its territory and will tighten controls on sensitive exports to China, according to a person familiar with the matter and a government document seen by Reuters.

The offer came as senior US officials, including the influential White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, raised concerns about Chinese goods being sent to America with “made-in-Vietnam” labels that draw lower duties.

Vietnam has for weeks been offering sweeteners that it hoped would persuade the US President Donald Trump’s administration to take a benign view of its huge trade surplus with America. Instead, it was hit with a 46 per cent tariff as part of Trump’s “Liberation Day” salvo. While the tariff has been suspended for 90 days, the two countries agreed to start talks after a Vietnamese deputy prime minister met the US Trade Representative on Wednesday.

Export-reliant Vietnam is hoping to get the duties reduced to a range of 22 per cent to 28 per cent, if not lower, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

One of them said that US officials had signalled that range was likely during a bilateral meeting in March. Vietnam’s trade ministry and the USTR’s office did not return a request for comment.

In announcing the start of trade talks with the US on Thursday, Vietnam’s government said on its official portal it would crack down on “trade fraud”. It did not provide specifics. Since Trump’s first term, many multinational firms have implemented a “China plus one” policy of setting up factories in Vietnam to reduce exposure to Beijing.