Vietnam has made a series of major bilateral trade concessions to avoid major tariffs imposed by the Trump administration next week.
Hanoi said it will lower tariffs on LNG (lurried natural gas) and cars from the United States and allow Elon Musk’s Starlink to provide services.
It is also fighting for U.S. imports due to a massive surplus of trade with Washington, which exceeded $123 billion in 2024. Energy Transactions and Mineral Agreements Two weeks ago, when a delegation from Vietnam visited the United States, American companies were worth more than $4 billion.
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Vietnam’s tariffs on U.S. cars will be reduced from 45% to 64% to 32%, while natural gas levy will be reduced from 5% to 2%, and ethanol taxes will be reduced to 10% to 5%. Reuters said on Wednesday (March 26) that Vietnamese officials announced the cuts later on Tuesday.
Nguyen Quoc Hung, head of tax policy at Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance, said the cuts were intended to “increase the trade balance with (Vietnam) trading partners.”
Hung notes that although the United States and Vietnam have one Comprehensive strategic partnershipthey have not completed a formal free trade agreement.
Vietnam has not yet imported LNG from the United States, but the country has been in conversation with suppliers of future LNG power plants in the United States, which was scheduled to start commercial power generation in June.
Vietnam’s industrial capacity has grown considerably in recent years, but there are problems in expanding its capacity grid to cope with additional demand. It suffered Extensive power outages Last May, industrial parks in the northern province of the country faced Cut power In June 2023, the heat wave stretched demand.
Hong said the tariff cuts will be ready this month and will take effect immediately after that.
He said tariffs on ethane gas will be lifted and other imports such as chicken thighs, almonds, apples, cherries and wooden products will be cut.
The green light of the interstellar link
According to a statement issued by the government portal on Wednesday, the government decided separately to allow SpaceX to launch its Starlink satellite internet service on a trial basis while retaining full ownership of the service.
Reuters said that allowing U.S. companies to launch their internet services, some analysts are seen as one of the measures taken by Vietnam to avoid being hit by U.S. tariffs.
SpaceX’s negotiations with Vietnamese officials hit obstacles in early 2024 When Hanoi appears to deny the company’s requirement to relax foreign ownership rules on telecom companies regarding network infrastructure.
Leaders of the country’s Communist regime are eager to upgrade Vietnam’s internet infrastructure after the problem – power outages on its five major underwater fiber cables.
Chinese ships are accused Cut the submarine Internet cable to Taiwan and Nordic countries Hanoi has similar concerns that its underwater Internet links are vulnerable to cable attacks if the bilateral ties deteriorate.
Vietnam needs Starlink to serve its satellites in the mountainous and maritime areas of the South China Sea, and has disputed China in the region and several other ASEAN states, with its controversial claims to control a large number of oceans.
Hanoi is trying to counter Beijing’s giant “Haiger” by dredging and reclaiming thousands of acres of land around the country’s coastal waters.
In recent years, Vietnam has created eight ports on the Sprat Islands and other reefs, increasing the number of outposts to more than a dozen. Asian Ocean Transparency Initiative. Amti said last week that Vietnam’s efforts to build a total dredging and landfill for ports and channels in the disputed marine areas total about 3,319 acres, accounting for 71% of China’s current total of 4,650 acres.
US propaganda to Chinese solar energy sent through Vietnam
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed a “significant increase” on imports from Chinese solar producers, who have set up gathering bases in Vietnam for export to the United States. PV MAGit monitors global solar energy development.
Business officials said they revealed “improper cross-border subsidies from China” through “highly discounted” solar glass, solar glass and other inputs transmitted at lower market prices to reduce the cost of its company’s solar plant in Vietnam.
Their preliminary anti-subsidy tariffs announced on December 1 that they had sharply increased their initial counter-subsidy tariffs on solar imports from Vietnam, which was reportedly the largest source of U.S. solar imports.
This means that “the anti-profit rate is close to or even exceeds 100% of the import value of several of Vietnam’s most famous Chinese companies, including Jinko Solar and Trina Solar,” it said, noting that there are also anti-tilt responsibilities.
Six U.S. solar producers have sought action on Chinese imports from Vietnam and three other ASEAN countries (Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand). It said this led to tariffs on imports of Vietnam factories set up by JA Solar, Jinko Solar and Trina Solar, increasing from 2.85% of JA to less than 28%, while Jinko and Trina earned 95.5%.
However, decisions on these revisions can be made until after a final court hearing in mid-April or later.
U.S. President Donald Trump says he will announce Reciprocal tariffs Among the multiple countries on April 2, although some countries may rest and achieve results for countries such as Vietnam, China and others until the trade deal is decided.
See also:
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Vietnam sees trade surplus with us faces soaring tariffs
Vietnam establishes high-speed north-south railway link – BT
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SpaceX negotiates with Vietnam on Starlink Internet.
