President Trump’s 90-day pause on tariffs could be ending early next month. For truckers at Southern California’s ports, that could mean even more economic uncertainty.
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he has struck a trade deal with Vietnam.
“It will be a Great Deal of Cooperation between our two Countries. The Terms are that Vietnam will pay the United States a 20% Tariff on any and all goods sent into our Territory, and a 40% Tariff on any Transshipping,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“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. 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,” Trump added.
Trump says he reached the deal after speaking with To Lam, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
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President Donald Trump, left, and Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary To Lam. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images; Chalinee Thirasupa/Pool/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“It is my opinion that the SUV or, as it is sometimes referred to, Large Engine Vehicle, which does so well in the United States, will be a wonderful addition to the various product lines within Vietnam. Dealing with General Secretary To Lam, which I did personally, was an absolute pleasure,” Trump also said.
Vietnam was previously hit with a 46% tariff as part of Trump’s “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariff announcements.
That tariff was later suspended for 90 days, with the suspension set to expire next week.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said in late June that he was expecting to reach a trade deal with the U.S. before the deadline, according to Reuters.
“I hope that you will see that the result will come earlier than two weeks,” Chinh reportedly said. “Vietnam and the U.S. share a deep understanding on tariffs… I hope that all the positive things will come for us.”
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President Donald Trump holds a chart as he delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled “Make America Wealthy Again” at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 2, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The Office of the United States Trade Representative said “U.S. goods trade with Vietnam totaled an estimated $149.6 billion in 2024” and “U.S. goods exports to Vietnam in 2024 were $13.1 billion, up 32.9 percent ($3.2 billion) from 2023.”
“U.S. goods imports from Vietnam totaled $136.6 billion in 2024, up 19.3 percent ($22.1 billion) from 2023. The U.S. goods trade deficit with Vietnam was $123.5 billion in 2024, an 18.1 percent increase ($18.9 billion) over 2023,” it added.
The Southeast Asian nation has been caught in a delicate balancing act as it tries to preserve trade with the U.S., its largest export market and a security partner, while not antagonizing China, which serves as a top source of investment and a neighbor.
Vietnam’s Government Office, a body that coordinates between its ministries, held an emergency meeting with government trade experts on April 3, hours after President Donald Trump announced the tariffs. The aim was to address Washington’s concerns over alleged intellectual property theft and transhipment abuses, according to a person briefed on the meeting.
At the meeting, trade ministry and customs officials were told to tighten controls and were given two weeks to devise a plan to clamp down on illicit transshipment, which is when one country sends goods to a nation facing lower tariffs from a third country, to which the product is re-exported without having value added.
Many of the goods exported by Vietnam to the West have Chinese-made inputs, and Chinese companies have also established factories in the country to serve U.S. customers. In many instances, Vietnamese workers process the goods, which are then legally shipped to the U.S. under a “Made in Vietnam” label.
Containers are offloaded from the Sinar Sanur cargo ship at the Tan Vu Terminal, operated by Vietnam Maritime Corp., at Haiphong Port in Haiphong, Vietnam, on Jan. 15, 2025. (Linh Pham/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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U.S. officials have alleged that China uses Vietnam as a conduit to obtain lower tariffs for goods that do not have significant Vietnamese involvement.
FOX Business’ Bradford Betz and Reuters contributed to this report.
