Trump's Vietnam tariff pact challenges Asean unity as foreign ministers meet
US President
Donald Trump on Sunday announced a delay to the next round of his sweeping 'Liberation Day' tariffs – pushing the deadline from July 9 to August 1 – to give time for finalising deals with 18 major trade partners, including the
European Union and
India
One such agreement, struck with
Vietnam last Thursday,
slashed tariffs by more than half to 20 per cent in exchange for duty-free access for US exports and a hefty 40 per cent levy on goods re-exported through Vietnam's ports from third countries.
That deal – with the US' 10th largest trade partner – undercut the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations ' earlier push for a
united front in dealing with the tariff regime, observers said, leaving the rest of the bloc's members more vulnerable to direct pressure from Washington.
Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attends the Brics summit in Rio de Janeiro, on Sunday. Photo: AFP
'The message is clear: Asean unity will not shield members from tariffs,' said Damien Duhamel, managing partner at strategy consultancy Eurogroup Consulting.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTHK
2 hours ago
- RTHK
Trump hosts Netanyahu in push for Gaza deal
Trump hosts Netanyahu in push for Gaza deal Trump voiced confidence during his dinner with Netanyahu that Hamas is willing to end the conflict in Gaza. Photo: Reuters US President Donald Trump hosted Benjamin Netanyahu for dinner at the White House on Monday as he pressed the Israeli prime minister to end the devastating Gaza war. Netanyahu's third visit since Trump's return to power comes at a crucial time, with the US president hoping to capitalise on the momentum from a recent truce between Israel and Iran. "I don't think there is a hold up. I think things are going along very well," Trump told reporters at the start of the dinner when asked what was preventing a peace deal. Sitting on the opposite side of a long table from the Israeli leader, Trump also voiced confidence that Hamas was willing to end the conflict in Gaza, which is entering its 22nd month. "They want to meet and they want to have that ceasefire," Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if clashes involving Israeli soldiers would derail talks. The meeting in Washington came as Israel and Hamas held a second day of indirect talks in Qatar on an elusive ceasefire. Netanyahu meanwhile said he had nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize – the US president's long-held goal – presenting him with a letter he sent to the prize committee. "He's forging peace as we speak, in one country, in one region after the other," Netanyahu said. But Netanyahu was more cagey on peace with the Palestinians and ruled out a full Palestinian state, saying that Israel will 'always' keep security control over the Gaza Strip. "Now, people will say it's not a complete state, it's not a state. We don't care," Netanyahu said. Several dozen protesters gathered near the White House as Trump and Netanyahu met, chanting slogans accusing the Israeli prime minister of "genocide." Trump has strongly backed key US ally and fellow conservative Netanyahu, lending US support in Israel's recent war by bombing Iran's key nuclear facilities. But at the same time he has increasingly pushed for an end to what he called the "hell" in Gaza. Trump said on Sunday he believes there is a "good chance" of an agreement this coming week. "The utmost priority for the president right now in the Middle East is to end the war in Gaza and to return all of the hostages," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Leavitt said Trump wanted Hamas to agree to a US-brokered proposal "right now" after Israel backed the plan for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The latest round of negotiations on the war in Gaza began on Sunday in Doha, with representatives seated in different rooms in the same building. Monday's talks ended with "no breakthrough," a Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told AFP. The Hamas and Israeli delegations were due to resume talks later. (AFP)
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
‘Mentally debilitating': Hong Kong couple faces threats, harassment from loan sharks
When his health supplement business struggled with cash-flow problems, Bobby Tan* turned to a so-called professional networking group in Hong Kong for help, borrowing HK$300,000 (US$38,220) from a licensed small lender in April last year. Over the next 10 months, the Hong Kong permanent resident from Southeast Asia continued to take on more debt, borrowing from 30 different licensed moneylenders for a total of HK$5.05 million. Each lender charged him an illicit upfront 'commission' of 15 to 30 per cent in addition to other expenses – effectively an interest rate of 1,031 per cent. After deducting agents' commissions, he only received HK$4.15 million in loans. Having repaid more than HK$4.78 million, these lenders, who operate no differently from loan sharks, are still chasing Tan for HK$1.87 million. When Tan overborrowed and was living in fear of being chased back for unpaid loans in December last year, the agents persuaded him to use his wife's name, Alicia*, to borrow more.
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Brazil's Lula rebukes Trump on tariff threat as Brics bloc remains silent
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva rebuked US President Donald Trump for his latest tariff threat against Brics nations on Monday, while the bloc as a whole offered no public response to what critics called an alarming act of economic intimidation. 'I don't think it's very responsible and serious for a president … of a country the size of the US to threaten the world over the internet – it's not right,' Lula said during a news conference at the conclusion of the Brics leaders' summit in Rio de Janeiro. He said the members of the group of emerging economies were 'sovereign countries' and noted that other nations had the same right to levy taxes as Washington. 'The world has changed. We don't want an emperor,' Lula added. 'Frankly, there are other things and other ways for the president … to talk to other countries. People need to understand that respect is good - we like to give it, and we like to get it in return,' he said. The Brazilian president was reacting to comments Trump made on Sunday that he would impose an additional 10 per cent tariffs on imports from Brics members and aligned countries that pursue what he called the group's 'anti-American policies'.
