Tariff Spotlight: Vietnam
Peter Zeihan
6 min
The Trump administration's tariff on Vietnam is based on manufactured data and incompetent advisors, destroying a vital supply chain partnership. The tariffs will cause extreme pain and undo years of successful efforts to diversify supply chains away from China.
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Donald Trump
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Barack Obama
Chapters
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0:00
The Tariff Announcement
Vietnam received a 46% tariff increase announced by the Trump administration.
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0:23
Flawed Calculation Method
The tariff number was derived from trade deficits divided by exports without studying actual barriers. Trump fired knowledgeable staff and surrounded himself with people who do not know what is happening.
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1:53
Incompetent Advisors
Key advisors like Navarro and Lutnick lack real-world experience or tell Trump what he wants to hear.
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3:22
Manufactured Data
The high tariff rate results from manufactured data rather than actual trade realities. American firms successfully built industrial plants in Vietnam to diversify supply chains away from China. Vietnam's current trade deficit exists because the country is not wealthy enough yet to buy American products. The tariffs complicate and cause pain for a partnership that is essential for future American security.
Key points
- 0:00
Vietnam received a 46% tariff increase announced by the Trump administration.
- 0:23
The tariff number was derived from trade deficits divided by exports without studying actual barriers.
- 0:23
Trump fired knowledgeable staff and surrounded himself with people who do not know what is happening.
- 1:53
Key advisors like Navarro and Lutnick lack real-world experience or tell Trump what he wants to hear.
- 3:22
The high tariff rate results from manufactured data rather than actual trade realities.
- 3:22
American firms successfully built industrial plants in Vietnam to diversify supply chains away from China.
- 3:22
Vietnam's current trade deficit exists because the country is not wealthy enough yet to buy American products.
- 3:22
The tariffs complicate and cause pain for a partnership that is essential for future American security.
Who and where
People · 2
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Donald Trump 8
President of the United States (2017–2021; since 2025)
Photo 1
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Barack Obama 1
44th President of the United States (2009–2017)
Photo 2
1. Photo: Daniel Torok, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · Wikidata · redrawn in our house style (Donald Trump)
2. Photo: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · Wikidata · redrawn in our house style (Barack Obama)
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