US exports have achieved Vietnam’s economic success

President of US President Donald Trump, who is heading for the bigger part of the world, are already in force – and outside China, no other region has been affected as firm as Southeast Asia.

Near the list are Vietnam and Cambodia, which were affected by some of the highest rates: 46% and 49%. Further, Thailand (36%), Indonesia (32%) and Malaysia (24%). The Philippines receive a 17%tariff and Singapore of 10%.

This is a huge blow to a region heavily dependent on exports. His widespread economic development over the last three decades has largely been guided by his success in the sale of his products to the rest of the world, especially in the United States.

Exports to the United States contribute 23% of Vietnam’s GDP and 67% of Cambodia.

This growth story is now assigned to the punitive measures imposed in Washington.

The longer-term impact of these tariffs, assuming that they remain in place, will vary, but will certainly be major challenges to the governments of Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.

Vietnam’s Bamboo Diplomacy, where he tries to be friends with everyone and balance connections with both China and the United States, will now be tested.

Under the leadership of the new Secretary -General of the Communist Party in Lam, Vietnam has taken on an ambitious plan for the construction of an economy based on knowledge and technology, he strives for an annual growth rate of more than 8%.

The export of more to the United States, its already largest market, was central to this plan.

This was also the main reason why Vietnam agreed to raise its relations with that of a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2023.

The Communist Party, which tolerates a little disagreement and has no official political opposition, depends on its economic promises of its legitimacy. Already regarded by many economists as too ambitious, they will already be even more difficult to meet.

Thailand depends on US exports smaller than Vietnam -under 10% of GDP -but the Thai economy is in a much higher shape since it has been more low in the last decade. The Thai government is trying to find ways to increase economic growth by recently trying, but fails to legalize gambling and these rates are another economic blow that it cannot afford.

For Cambodia, the tariffs are perhaps the largest political threat in the region.

The Hun Manet government turned out to be as authoritative as that of his father Hun Saint, whom he succeeded two years ago, but is vulnerable.

The preservation of the family of the family requires to offer rival clans in Cambodia’s economic privileges such as monopolies or discounts on the ground, but this helped to create a predominance of property developments that are no longer sold and a mass of alienation complaints.

In the clothing sector, which employs 750,000 people, it was a decisive social security valve, which gives a stable income to the most important in Cambodia. Thousands of these jobs are likely to be lost as a result of President Trump’s rates.

Unlike China, who has given up his own levies, the official message of governments in Southeast Asia, does not panic, do not take revenge, but negotiate.

Vietnam sent Deputy Minister Ho Duk Duk Fo in Washington to plead in the case of his country and offered to remove all US import tariffs. Thailand plans to send his finance minister to make such an attractiveness and offer to reduce his tariffs and buy more US products such as food and planes.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also heads to Washington, although with the export of the United States, constituting only 11% of the total number of Malaysia, his country is less affected by some of his neighbors.

However, Trump’s administration does not seem to be set to compromise.

Peter Navarro, a senior President Trump’s senior councilor for trade and production and one of the main thinkers behind the new policy, said in interviews on Monday that Vietnam’s proposal for zero tariffs is pointless as he will not cope with the trade deficit where Vietnam sells goods worth $ 15 to the United States for every $ 1.

He accused Vietnam of maintaining numerous non -Netariff barriers before US imports and said that one -third of all Vietnamese exports to the United States is actually Chinese products transmitted through Vietnam.

The share of Vietnamese exports that is being made or transformed there to avoid US tariffs for China is difficult to evaluate, but detailed trade surveys put it between 7% and 16%, not one third.

Like Vietnam, the Cambodia government has appealed to the United States to postpone the tariffs while trying to negotiate.

The local Chamber of Commerce has called for 49% of the rates to be dropped, pointing out that the Cambodian clothing industry, the largest employer in the country, will be heavily affected, but that no tariff level, however high, will see that the production of clothing and shoes returns to the United States.

Perhaps the most derived tariff rate is 44%, applied to Myanmar, a country that is sunk in a civil war that has no capacity to buy more goods in the United States.

US exports make up only a small part of Myanmar’s GDP, less than 1%.

But as in Cambodia, this sector, mainly clothing, is one of the few that provides a stable income for poor families in the cities of Myanmar.

In supreme irony, Trump has been a popular figure in this region so far.

He admires Vietnam widely because of his difficult, transactional approach to foreign policy, and former Cambodia’s ex -strong man, still the main strength behind the scenes, has long been seeking close personal relations with the US president, proudly publishing selfies with him at his first meeting in 2017.

Only last month Cambodia praised Trump To exclude US media networks, a voice of America and Radio Free Europe, which often carried the views of Cambodian dissidents.

Now Cambodia, like so many of his neighbors, finds himself in a long line of requests that have been praying to relieve their tariff weight.