【Text by Observers Network, Liu Bai】 President of the United States Donald Trump once boasted in early July that he had reached a trade agreement with Vietnam, claiming that 20% tariffs would be imposed on Vietnamese products exported to the U.S., far below his initial threat of 46%. But it seems the matter is not so simple.

According to a report from "Politico" on July 10, Vietnam may have been "taken for a ride." Four sources revealed that, actually, before Trump announced the news, the Vietnamese negotiation team believed that the tariff rate agreed upon between the two sides was around 11%, but at the last minute, Trump unilaterally raised it to 20%, catching the Vietnamese off guard.

Trump posted on July 2 that he had reached a trade agreement with Vietnam, under which all Vietnamese exports to the U.S. would face at least 20% tariffs and the U.S. market would be "completely open." However, according to the aforementioned sources, the Vietnamese government has yet to formally accept the key terms of the agreement.

Trump also claimed that General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Truong Tan Sang, had agreed to the terms, but neither side has released any documents related to the terms, leading to doubts about whether the agreement actually exists.

In fact, Reuters had earlier noted that although the Vietnamese government expressed congratulations in a statement on reaching a consensus on the trade framework, it did not confirm the specific tariff levels. Additionally, it remains unclear which products will be subject to the 20% tariff Trump mentioned, or whether the total tariff rates for certain products will be higher or lower.

Photo: U.S. President Trump

"Politico" reported that Trump's statement shocked the Vietnamese side because their negotiating representatives had not agreed to a 20% tariff level. According to four sources, they had thought the rate would be around 11%. Furthermore, during Trump's call with Truong Tan Sang, the tariff issue was ignored, and later Trump unilaterally announced that the U.S. would impose nearly double the tariff, without Truong Tan Sang participating in the initial tariff negotiations.

A lobbyist based in Washington who works with Vietnam and other Asian countries said some people in the U.S. were also surprised by the outcome.

"Trump has played a trick on everyone," he said, adding that the Vietnamese were surprised and felt disappointed and angry.

A White House aide who requested anonymity refuted this claim, stating that the Vietnamese government had already been aware of the final tariff level before the call.

"My understanding is that the two trade teams had discussions, and the final decision was approved by the leaders of both countries," he said.

However, as of now, neither the White House nor the Vietnamese side has released any final agreement documents containing these tariff levels, nor has the relevant agreement been officially signed. It remains unclear when and whether the higher tariff levels will take effect.

"This further increases uncertainty — even if you think you've already made an agreement, he might immediately change the terms," said Wendy Cutler, former acting deputy trade representative in the Obama administration. "In this case, obviously, he changed it unilaterally and publicly, and the Vietnamese were not involved."

Vietnam, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and the U.S. Department of Commerce have not responded to requests for comment.

Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the slow progress of trade negotiations and hinted that he prefers directly sending letters to countries to set tariffs rather than continuing what he now admits is a "difficult negotiation."

Trump said at the White House on August 8, "We can't meet with 200 countries one by one."

Vietnam noticed that Trump also proposed new tariffs on other Asian countries this week, such as the same 20% rate for the Philippines, which will take effect on August 1, and unlike Vietnam, there are no concessions or rules regarding the origin of goods.

Photo: Clothing store in Hanoi, Vietnam, Visual China

Since Trump announced the tariffs on social media, the Vietnamese side has hardly made any public comments. On July 2, a report published by Vietnamese official media about the agreement did not mention any "agreed" tariff terms, only stating that Trump's call with Truong Tan Sang led to a "fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial trade agreement joint statement."

But even this joint statement has not been publicly released. American media believe this may reflect the Vietnamese side's dissatisfaction with Trump's disruption of the original agreement.

A copy of a draft version of the joint statement obtained by "Politico" shows that the draft mentions that the U.S. will "substantially reduce" tariffs on Vietnamese imports, securing more favorable trade conditions for Vietnam.

Experts are concerned that this incident could undermine decades of efforts by the U.S. and Vietnam to rebuild diplomatic relations, not to mention the rapidly growing trade relationship in recent years.

According to data from the U.S. International Trade Administration, bilateral trade volume increased from $2.9 billion in 2002 to $139 billion in 2022 since the U.S. and Vietnam signed a bilateral trade agreement in 2001, making Vietnam the sixth-largest source of imports for the U.S.

"The trust that they placed in the U.S. as a reliable partner was built over the past 30 years, and it will certainly suffer a major blow," said Scot Marciel, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. "This will benefit China in the competition for influence between the U.S. and China."

According to a source and an Asian diplomat, other countries have also become aware of the sudden change in the tariff terms of the U.S.-Vietnam agreement and have discussed it. This further highlights the uncertainty faced by U.S. trade partners when negotiating with a president who appears to be ready to change his trade threats at any time.

"Such a move by the president is equivalent to completely destroying the credibility of negotiators," said Harry Broadman, former U.S. assistant trade representative. "If you are negotiating with Country X, and they just saw Country Y's agreement being torn up, they will say: Why should I negotiate with you? How can I be sure our agreement won't be overturned like Country Y's?"

This article is an exclusive work of Observers Network. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

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