Updated April 10, 2025, 04:30 a.m. EDT BANGKOK – The U.S. and Vietnam have agreed to start talks on a trade deal, the Vietnamese government said Thursday, a possible sign of breathing space for some developing Asian countries as President Donald Trump escalates a trade war with China. Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met in Washington late Wednesday, the day that 46% U.S. tariffs on Vietnamese exports came into force along with higher tariffs on many other countries. Hours later, President Donald…
Tag: Vietnam
Vietnam courts European leaders amid concerns over US tariffs
BANGKOK – Fearing retaliatory U.S. tariffs, Vietnam is turning to Europe, hosting a succession of senior figures over the next two months. On Tuesday, President Luong Cuong met with Belgian’s monarch, King Philippe, and a business delegation, encouraging them to invest in key industries such as high tech manufacturing, renewable energy and infrastructure, state media reported. Philippe said he hoped Belgian businesses specializing in wastewater treatment, energy and rare minerals would set up shop in Vietnam. Cuong also asked Belgium to ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement, signed six years…
Vietnamese Politburo member holds rare dialogue with dissidents
In a rare encounter, a Vietnamese Politburo member met to engage in dialogue with a dozen intellectuals and artists, including several well-known dissidents who are critical of the ruling Communist Party, attendees told Radio Free Asia. Sunday’s meeting in Saigon, which had been in the works for several months, had been proactively sought by Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Nguyen Van Nen, said poet Hoang Thuy Hung, one of the attendees. Vietnam’s 16-member Political Bureau, or Politburo, is the highest body of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and is…
China’s Exports Surge Are Drawing a Global Backlash
China’s factory exports are powering ahead faster than almost anyone expected, putting jobs around the world in jeopardy and setting off a backlash that is gaining momentum. From steel and cars to consumer electronics and solar panels, Chinese factories are finding more overseas buyers for goods. The world’s appetite for its goods is welcomed by China, which is enduring a severe downturn in what had been the economy’s biggest driver of growth: building and outfitting apartments. But other countries are increasingly concerned that China’s rise is coming partly at their…
Human rights in decline globally as leaders fail to uphold laws, report warns
Human rights across the world are in a parlous state as leaders shun their obligations to uphold international law, according to the annual report of Human Rights Watch (HRW). In its 2024 world report, HRW warns grimly of escalating human rights crises around the globe, with wartime atrocities increasing, suppression of human rights defenders on the rise, and universal human rights principles and laws being attacked and undermined by governments. The report highlights political leaders’ increasing disregard for international human rights laws. The report says “selective government outrage and transactional…
Three Months After Biden, It’s Xi’s Turn to Court Vietnam
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday for a relatively rare trip abroad, seeking to elevate ties with an important neighbor just three months after President Biden visited Hanoi on a similar mission. Few nations now feature more centrally in the great-power competition between the United States and China, placing Vietnam, which has a long history of fierce independence, in a high-risk, high-reward position. Keeping both giants happy could mean a transformative economic boost; angering one or the other could bring heavy costs. “This is a very delicate…
China concerns drive historic upgrade in US-Vietnam relations
Over the weekend, US President Joe Biden arrived in Hanoi and finalised a diplomatic agreement with former foe Vietnam that was, until recently, almost unthinkable. Shortly after touching down in the country, Biden met Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist party of Vietnam, to upgrade their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership (CSP), the highest of Vietnam’s three diplomatic levels – save for a special category reserved for Cambodia and Laos. This puts the US in the same category as China, Russia, India, and South Korea, a move…
Today’s Top News: The Aftermath of the Earthquake in Morocco, and More
The New York Times Audio app is home to journalism and storytelling, and provides news, depth and serendipity. If you haven’t already, download it here — it’s available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter. The Headlines brings you the biggest stories of the day from the Times journalists who are covering them, all in about 10 minutes. Hosted by Annie Correal, the new morning show features three top stories from reporters across the newsroom and around the world, so you always have…
Biden Forges Deeper Ties With Vietnam as China Mounts Ambition
President Biden cemented a new strategic relationship with Vietnam on Sunday, bringing two historical foes closer than they have ever been and putting the ghosts of the past behind them out of shared worry over China’s mounting ambitions in the region. During a landmark visit to Hanoi by the American president, Vietnam’s Communist Party leadership formally raised the country’s ties to the United States to the highest level in Hanoi’s diplomatic hierarchy, equivalent to those it has with Russia and China. Mr. Biden said the breakthrough was “the beginning of…
Joe Biden calls for stable US-China relationship during south-east Asia tour
Joe Biden’s national security tour of south-east Asia reached Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sunday, where the president called for stability in the US-China relationship against an increasingly complex diplomatic picture in the region for his country. “I don’t want to contain China,” Biden said. “I just want to make sure that we have a relationship with China that is on the up and up, squared away, everybody knows what it’s all about.” Biden also said that China’s recent economic downturn may limit any inclination to invade Taiwan. “I don’t think it’s…