US pushes Vietnam to decouple from Chinese tech, sources say

Name: After Vietnam threatened with 46% US tariffs, how will Hanoi strike a deal with Washington?
Uploaded: 2025-06-17T02:18:32.000Z
Duration: 8 min 13 s
Description: After Vietnam threatened with 46% US tariffs, how will Hanoi strike a deal with Washington?

Vietnam has been asked ‘to reduce its dependency on Chinese hi-tech’, say one of the people familiar with the discussions

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A woman uses her smartphone in a coffee shop in Hanoi. Photo: AFP

Reuters

Published: 10:18am, 17 Jun 2025

The US was pushing Vietnam in tariff talks to reduce the use of Chinese tech in devices that were assembled in the country before being exported to America, three people briefed on the matter said.

Vietnam is home to large manufacturing operations of tech firms such as Apple and Samsung Electronics, which often rely on components made in China. Meta Platforms and Google also have contractors in Vietnam that produce goods such as virtual reality headsets and smartphones.

The Southeast Asian nation has been organising meetings with local businesses to boost the supply of Vietnamese parts, with firms showing willingness to cooperate but also warning they would need time and technology to do so, according to one person with knowledge of the discussions.

The Trump administration has threatened Vietnam with crippling tariffs of 46 per cent, which could significantly limit access for Vietnam-made goods to their main market and upend the Communist-run country’s export-oriented growth model.

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After Vietnam threatened with 46% US tariffs, how will Hanoi strike a deal with Washington?

Vietnam had been asked “to reduce its dependency on Chinese hi-tech”, said one person familiar with the discussions. “That is part of the restructuring of supply chains and would in turn reduce US dependency on Chinese components,” the person added.