Top U.S. and Vietnamese trade chambers, representing numerous businesses, have asked the Trump administration to postpone its planned 46% tariff on goods coming from Vietnam, saying the levy will hurt them and bilateral commercial relations.
The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Hanoi expressed concern to the U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in a letter dated Saturday, saying the tariff, to take effect on Wednesday, was "shockingly high."
"Lower tariffs for products coming into Vietnam, and for products reaching the American consumer, is what will help U.S. companies, the economy, and consumers," AmCham and VCCI said in a statement. "Higher tariffs will not."
The Southeast Asian country, a major regional manufacturing base for many Western companies, posted a trade surplus of over $123 billion with the U.S., its largest export destination, last year.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Vietnamese leader To Lam agreed on Friday to discuss a deal to remove tariffs, both said after a phone call that Trump called "very productive."
Yet, even before Trump's Wednesday announcement of sweeping global tariffs, Vietnam cut several duties as part of a series of concessions to the U.S., including pledges to buy more American goods, such as planes and agricultural products.
"A fast and fair agreement would add certainty for businesses and would help to rectify the trade imbalance between the two countries in a manner that benefits both countries," AmCham and VCCI said.
On the other hand, the data on Sunday showed that Vietnam's economic growth slowed in the first quarter of the year, even before the start of tariff-related challenges for the export-reliant economy.
The country's gross domestic product (GDP) rose healthily by 6.93% in the first three months of the year from the same period last year, but it slowed from 7.55% in the quarter ending in December, the National Statistics Office said in a report.
Exports and foreign investment in manufacturing are key drivers of Vietnam's economy, but that model may come under pressure after the recent tariff announcement.
Still, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said Trump's tariffs did not change the government's target of at least 8% growth this year.
To hit the target, growth for the remaining quarters will need to rise by between 8.2% and 8.4%, but if Trump's tariff on Vietnamese goods causes a 10% drop in the country's shipments to the U.S., that could cut GDP growth by 0.84 percentage points, the statistics office estimated.
Most brutal hit would be the garment, footwear, electronics and smartphone sectors, it said.
"Export to the U.S. is one of Vietnam's main drivers, the tariff may lower foreign investments into Vietnam, especially from American, South Korean and Chinese partners, which may lead to a decrease in jobs and income," said Nguyen Thi Mai Hanh, a senior official at the statistics office.
The U.S. remained Vietnam's largest importer in the first quarter, and Vietnam's trade surplus with the U.S. rose 22.1% from a year earlier to $27.3 billion.
