Donald Trump’s ‘real threat’ of Vietnam tariffs sends ripples of anxiety through Southeast Asian nation
- The US president is keen to narrow America’s trade deficit and stop illegal transshipments from China looking to avoid trade war tariffs
- Vietnamese authorities are cracking down on illicit tariff dodging behaviour, but exporters worry that a ‘small batch could ruin it for everyone’
Steven Yang had been considering moving his mattress factory from China’s manufacturing heartland of Guangdong to Vietnam for some years, because despite increasing the salary of his 50 workers every year, his staff kept leaving.
Yang’s company, Foshan Jietai Furniture, exports to the United States, European Union, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia and other parts of Asia. He had been focused on increasing his exports to America, but these plans were devastated when US President Donald Trump imposed anti-dumping duties of up to 1,731 per cent on Chinese-made mattresses.
Yang quickly took to WeChat and shared an expletive-laden post attacking Trump, then contacted an agency in Vietnam to start the relocation process. He finished the paperwork in July and is set to start production in Vietnam at the end of August.
Now, however, he is cursing Trump again – with the US President turning his ire on the Southeast Asian country, which has been the destination of choice for many manufacturers leaving China, driving up its trade surplus with the US.
