Vietnam Proactively Responds to April 2nd “Independence Day” Tariffs, by Lowering Import Tariff Regime

Sundance reporting for CTH 

Wealthy nations will attempt to maintain exports against President Trump tariffs by subsidizing their industries. Corporations have deeper pockets, and the politicians are used to the bribes, we call it “lobbying.” Therefore, the government responds by subsidizing the corporations [ie. the WEF business model].

Canada will subsidize their export industries, Germany will subsidize their auto industry, the EU will provide subsidies to their manufacturing powerhouses, and China will once again start subsidizing their manufacturing industry. Each of these nations will in turn devalue their currency.

However, poorer nations will be faster to lower import tariffs on USA goods because they have lower lobbying (bribe) income from corporations to govt. That’s what we should expect to see.

VIETNAM – Vietnam said it plans to cut import duties on a range of goods including cars, liquified natural gas and agricultural products.

[…] The announcement on the finance ministry’s website late Tuesday came less than two weeks after Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said the country was reviewing duties in order to encourage increased imports from the United States.

Vietnam represents the United States’s third-highest trade deficit, behind China and Mexico.

According to the finance ministry statement, import duties on some cars will be cut by half and the tax rate for liquified natural gas will drop from five percent to just two percent. Duties will also be cut for a number of other products including frozen chicken thighs, almonds, sweet cherries, raisins and wood. (more)

During President Trump’s first term, many companies proactively moved manufacturing operations from China to other nations in Southeast Asia.  Vietnam was a big benefactor of the manufacturing shift.  It is smart for them to respond to the reciprocal tariffs coming April 2nd by lowering their tariff rate.

President Trump has instructed the Commerce Department and U.S. Trade Representative to calculate both the tariffs and the non-tariff trade barriers as part of the reciprocity equation.  The non-tariff barrier calculation is the factor many foreign governments are anticipating with great interest.

This overall dynamic is a major reset in global trade as the U.S. market is the crown jewel for entry.  We are the customers that everyone wants access to.  President Trump is leveraging that access to trigger internal GDP growth.

Remember, even the GDP calculation is a factor of the value of products we generate, minus the value of the products we import.  If we lower the import side of the equation and simultaneously increase domestic production, the GDP expands significantly more than just increasing production.