Vietnam’s recent fame as a big winner of the U.S.-China trade war may be bringing it unwanted attention from President Donald Trump.
“There is a risk to Vietnam,” said Nestor Scherbey, a licensed U.S. customs broker and consultant based in Ho Chi Minh City. “Thirty percent of Vietnam’s imports are Chinese material and components used for manufacturing in final products that are then exported. That’s an area of risk.”
The Southeast Asian nation has been taking steps to avoid U.S. ire. Vietnam said earlier this month it will impose higher penalties on Chinese goods transferred to the country and illegally relabeled as made-in-Vietnam for export to the U.S.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t immediately respond to questions seeking its view on Trump’s comments.
(Updates with the closing level of the VN Index in the third paragraph.)
Reporting by John Boudreau and Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen.
