Trump Aide Tells Vietnam to Curb China Shipments to Avoid Duties

[Viet]

Robert O’Brien Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/Bloomberg



U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien told Vietnamese leaders they must curb illegal re-routing of Chinese exports and purchase more U.S. goods such as liquefied natural gas and military equipment in order to avoid punitive American tariffs.

The Commerce Department this month imposed preliminary anti-subsidy duties on Vietnamese car and truck tires, citing the nation’s “undervalued currency” among the reasons. In an interview with Bloomberg News this weekend during a stop in Hanoi, the aide to President Donald Trump said he told the country’s leaders that cracking down on Chinese trans-shipments and easing the U.S.’s trade deficit with Vietnam “could be the basis for a reversal” of the tariffs.

The duties have become a sticking point between the U.S. and Vietnam even as the former adversaries strengthen overall ties to counter Chinese actions in the South China Sea. O’Brien, who met with officials including Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Foreign Affairs Minister Pham Binh Minh, said they were “very concerned” about Chinese actions to prevent Vietnam from tapping into offshore resources such as fish and natural gas.


O’Brien said that Vietnam is interested in more military-to-military information sharing as well as obtaining additional U.S. Coast Guard equipment to better protect maritime areas. He told them the U.S. may be able to provide financing to help with purchases of the American helicopters to reduce Vietnam’s bilateral trade surplus, which is on pace to break last year’s record $56 billion.

U.S. Imposes Duty on Vietnam Tires, Cites ‘Undervalued’ Dong

Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Phuc last month reiterated that Vietnam doesn’t use its currency for a competitive trade advantage during a meeting with Adam Boehler, head of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. Vietnam’s government previously has signaled it plans to buy “large volumes” of LNG from the U.S., while also saying it has intensified efforts to crack down on Chinese exporters trying to route products through the Southeast Asian nation to bypass higher U.S. tariffs.

O’Brien said Vietnam is typically cautious with public statements related to China and wants to maintain good relations with their much larger neighbor country. He also said he believes Vietnam is interested in getting American companies involved in offshore oil and gas projects because they think China would be less likely to interfere in that case.

Vietnam Backs U.S. Role in South China Sea, Rebuffing Beijing

Vietnam’s strategy for standing up to Beijing is to work with other regional countries through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, O’Brien said. But he added that China has some leverage in the organization through its ally Cambodia.

Trump Aide Tells Vietnam to Curb China Shipments to Avoid Duties

www.bloomberg.com

 

[vi-va]

Who is tRump?

 

[Han Patriot]

But Vietcong land is very poor, they could not produce anything on their own, nor they can do anything without Chinese investment, that's why they looks like a re-route of China's products in the eyes of US.

The American threat is very real, if they really ban the Vietcong's China re-route products, then most vietcongs will become unemployed and Vietcong trolls here would not afford to go internet café to post their fantasy anymore, instead they will have to busy begging from the Chinese sex tourists there or sell more mail-order brides to East Asia countries.

It's essentially buying Chinese components and assembling it to sell to US. So Phuc got phucked by US, its more like a relationship with a vassal than an ally it seems. Lol

 

[Viva_Viet]

The American threat is very real, if they really ban the Vietcong's China re-route products, then most vietcongs will become unemployed and Vietcong trolls here would not afford to go internet café to post their fantasy anymore, instead they will have to busy begging from the Chinese sex tourists there or sell more mail-order brides to East Asia countries.

Reported for insulting @waz @LeGenD

 

[Journeyman]

Vietnamese enterprises hardly import anything from china. It is the FDI enterprises who import their own components produced in china into Vietnam to assemble the final product to ship to the u.s.