While Trump has paused his whopping 46 percent tariff on Vietnam, economists say the export-reliant country still faces painful decisions.
I don’t have the best grasp on Vietnamese history but I believe they dont have much love for either of these countries historically. I believe, iirc, they have in the past few years been open to more American trade and influence but not sure that sentiment is true with Trump in office.
If we make them pick one, it won’t be the US simply because China is the far more reliable partner. The US could leave you high and dry every four years based on how a few hundred thousand people in key districts in about five states feel. You can’t build a stable economic foundation on top of the whims of the worst people from places like Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Not to mention the US still hasn’t paid reparations for their genocide, and trump dismantled programs designed to clean up Vietnam era bombs and pollution that still kill people there, while China is partnering with them to build infrastructure. There’s still a lot of animosity over Chinas invasion though, they really should have sided with the Vietnamese over the Khmer Rouge, but they were trying to get closer to the US at that time, who also supported the Khmer Rouge.
Worse, even. The US forced Vietnam to pay the debts owed by their own fascist puppet regime they had installed in the South of Vietnam
Japan has outsourced a lot of manufacturing and labor to Vietnam as well. Considering Japan is one of the biggest economies currently, why are they not mentioned as another possible choice?
Japan is also helping Vietnam build its first subway in Saigon. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/12/23/japan/vietnam-subway-oda/
Aligning with Japan, depending upon what that means, doesn’t mean much. Japan imports most of its resources and the economy relies largely on vehicle exports. Japan also needs the US or a replacement to keep this going (and that probably wouldn’t be China as Chinese have other options and generally don’t want to buy a number of Japanese things, especially cars).
That’s also not going to go the way Trump plans.
“Plans.”
