From Encouragement to Dependence: The Realities of US Tariff Sanctions for Vietnam

The author offers an express analysis of the crisis in US-Vietnamese trade relations based on materials from the Western and Vietnamese press, scientific and expert reviews. Topical actuality is caused by the decision of the United States President Donald Trump in April 2025 to start a tariff war against almost 190 countries around the world, in which Vietnam is promised one of the highest tariffs. Specific data on the new rates, as well as previously applied tariff s on goods from both countries, are provided, the rationale for Washington’s sanctions measures is disclosed, with approximate assessment of the methodology for calculating the duties imposed contrary to the WTO rules of international trade. The critical importance of the US challenge for the growth of the Vietnamese economy is revealed, the reasons, goals and objects of this policy are indicated. In particular, the case of manipulation with Chinese goods for their re-export to the United States at low prices is highlighted. The paper presents some indicators of trade turnover and investment cooperation between the two countries, and selects priority areas of American business in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Hanoi’s retaliatory measures are considered in detail, showing that it is yielding under pressure from Trump and at the same time calling for mutual concessions. Taking into account the above, the consequences of sanctions and the prospects for resolving the situation are assessed. As a result of the research, the article summarizes the phenomenon of US sanctions measures against its closest partner and confirms the author’s hypothesis about the deep economic dependence and degree of subordination of Vietnam. The disclosure of the United States role in the foreign economic complex of this country, which has not been fully studied by Russian scientists, explores an instructive lesson and the cost of developing previously backward countries in the realm of Western "co-prosperity".