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Governments in countries across the world have either gone into a huddle to figure out how best to respond to the US’s tariff announcements. US President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on virtually every trade partner with rates going as high as above 50%.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held an urgent cabinet meeting early on Thursday, state media reported, hours after the Trump administration said Vietnam would be hit with U.S. tariffs of 46%, according to a Reuters report.
Leaders of the trade ministry will present a report on the impact of the tariffs on Vietnam’s exports and its economic growth prospects, the Tien Phong newspaper reported, citing a ministry official.
Trade minister Nguyen Hong Dien, central bank governor Nguyen Thi Hong and Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang were among those attending, reported Vietnam News Agency.
The U.S. is the largest export market for Vietnam, an export-reliant industrial hub. Exports to the United States were worth $142 billion last year accounting for nearly 30% of its gross domestic product. Its trade surplus with the U.S. exceeded $123 billion last year.
Economist Vo Tri Thanh, former deputy director of the Vietnam Institute for Economic Management said “It will negatively impact Vietnam’s economy”.
Hanoi had recently taken a series of measures to reduce its trade surplus with Washington, including cutting tariffs on a wide range of goods destined for the U.S.
Taiwan calls US action ‘unreasonable’
Taiwan’s government said on Thursday that U.S. tariffs levied on the island were unreasonable and it would discuss them with Washington, partly blaming U.S. tech curbs on China in President Donald Trump’s first term for driving the trade imbalance.
Trump on Wednesday announced across the board import tariffs, with much higher duties for dozens of trading partners, including Taiwan which runs a large trade surplus with the United States and will have a 32% duty placed on its products.
The U.S. tariffs, however, do not apply to semiconductors, a major Taiwan export.
Taiwan’s cabinet said in a statement that it regretted the “unreasonable” U.S. tariffs and it would seek clarification and continue talks with Washington to ensure Taiwan’s interests were protected.
How the United States has calculated the tariffs was unclear and did not reflect the complementary trade structure between the two sides, the cabinet said.
Taiwan’s exports to and trade surplus with the United States have increased because of U.S. demand for semiconductors, and artificial intelligence-related products, as well as Trump’s first-term tariffs and controls on China, it added.
This resulted in “the shift of Taiwan’s supply chain back to Taiwan and an increase in U.S. demand for Taiwan’s information and communications products, reflecting the huge contribution of Taiwan to the U.S. economy and national security”, the cabinet said.
During Trump’s first term in office from 2017 to 2021, he placed some Chinese companies on trade blacklists that curbed their access to crucial U.S. hardware and software, benefiting U.S. ally Taiwan as orders shifted to Taiwanese firms.
Taiwanese government officials have repeatedly said trade with the United States has been skewed by an insatiable demand for Taiwanese technology products, such as advanced semiconductors – a sector dominated by the island, home to major chipmaker TSMC.
TSMC last month announced a new $100 billion investment in the United States.
French wine sales may slide
A Reuters report said that French President Emmanuel Macron would convene all representatives of business sectors hit by the import tariffs announced Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump at the Elysee palace later in the day, the French presidency said on Thursday.
Trump on Wednesday unveiled a 10% minimum tariff on most goods imported to the United States – with a higher 20% rate for the European Union – kicking into high gear a global trade war that threatens to drive up inflation and stall U.S. and worldwide economic growth.
Sales of French wine and spirits are expected to slide at least 20% in the United States Trump announced reciprocal tariffs, the French wine and spirits exporters group FEVS said on Wednesday.
China seeks reversal of tariffs, warns of retaliation
China on Thursday urged the United States to immediately cancel its latest tariffs and vowed countermeasures to safeguard its own interests, after President Donald Trump declared sweeping levies on all U.S. trading partners around the world.
The U.S. move disregards the balance of interests reached in multilateral trade negotiations over the years and the fact that it has long benefited greatly from international trade, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
“China firmly opposes this and will take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests,” the ministry said, as the world’s largest economies look set to spiral deeper into a trade war that stands to upend global supply chains.
Trump on Wednesday announced China would be hit with a 34% tariff, on top of the 20% he previously imposed earlier this year, bringing the total new levies to 54% and close to the 60% figure he had threatened while on the campaign trail.
Chinese exporters, as with those from every other economy, will face a 10% baseline tariff, as part of the new 34% levy, on almost all goods shipped to the world’s largest consumer economy from Saturday before the remaining, higher “reciprocal tariffs” take effect from April 9.
Low-value Chinese goods also hit
Trump also signed an executive order closing a trade loophole known as “de minimis” that has allowed low-value packages from China and Hong Kong to enter the U.S. duty free.
Trump had ordered the U.S. Trade Representative to determine whether China was living up to its commitments under the 2020 “Phase 1” U.S.-China trade agreement by April 1.
The deal had required China to increase purchases of U.S. exports by $200 billion over a two-year period, but Beijing failed to meet its targets when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
China bought $153 billion in U.S. goods in 2017, before the trade war began, Chinese customs data shows, and that figure rose to $164 billion last year.
China+1 benefit diminishes
“China+1” strategies caught on among Chinese exporters and multinational companies that had made the production powerhouse central to their supply chains during Trump’s first term.
But with India, Mexico, Vietnam and Malaysia – the countries that benefited most from this shift – facing tariffs of between 24% to 46%, the cost advantage of relocating manufacturing out of China is significantly diminished.
Trump’s tariffs could encourage China to step up its trade with alternative markets, but no other country currently comes even close to U.S. consumption power, where Chinese producers sell more than $400 billion worth of goods annually.
“Trump’s tariffs certainly won’t help Chinese firms and will cause some real pain in some sectors, but they don’t make any definitive mark on the Chinese economy,” said William Hurst, Chong Hua Professor of Chinese Development at the University of Cambridge.
“U.S. exports are of declining importance to China. The American tariffs will spur more Chinese trade with other places, from Europe to Southeast Asia and Africa,” he added.
But Chinese producers have described shifting to alternative markets as a “rat race”, resulting in price wars among exporters that risk fanning deflationary forces in the world’s second-largest economy as firms continue to squeeze shrinking margins.
China’s President Xi Jinping might also enter the fray, following reports the two leaders could meet in June in the United States.
“Trump and Xi are locked in a paradox of pressure and pride,” said Craig Singleton, senior fellow at Washington-based research institute Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
“Trump’s strategy mixes maximum pressure with sudden diplomatic overtures — he sees leverage and engagement as complementary. Xi, by contrast, is methodical and risk-averse, relying on delay and discipline. But here’s the dilemma: if he refuses to engage, the pressure escalates; if he engages too soon, he risks looking weak,” he added. “Neither wants to be seen as folding first, but delay could deepen the standoff.”
ANI reported that China may take “resolute counter-measures” against the “reciprocal tariffs” announced by United States President Donald Trump on all US trade partners, citing a Global Times article.
China’s commerce ministry has urged Washington to cancel the unilateral tariff measures.
“There is no winner in a trade war, and protectionism leads nowhere. China urges the US to immediately remove unilateral tariffs and resolve differences with trade partners through dialogue,” a ministry spokesperson said as cited in the Chinese State-owned Global Times.
Major blow to world economy, says EU president
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described U.S. Donald Trump’s universal tariffs as a major blow to the world economy and said the European Union was prepared to respond with countermeasures if talks with Washington failed.
“We are already finalising the first package of countermeasures in response to tariffs on steel,” she said in a statement read out in Uzbek city Samarkand on Thursday, ahead of an EU-Central Asia partnership summit.
“And we’re now preparing for further countermeasures to protect our interests and our businesses if negotiations fail.”
She did not provide any details of future EU measures. The EU plans to impose counter tariffs on up to €26 billion ($28.4 billion) of U.S. goods this month in response to U.S. steel and aluminium tariffs that took effect on March 12.
Trump on Wednesday unveiled a 10% minimum tariff on most goods imported to the United States – with a higher 20% rate for the European Union – kicking into high gear a global trade war that threatens to drive up inflation and stall U.S. and worldwide economic growth.
Von der Leyen said she deeply regretted the U.S. move and warned of “immense consequences” for the global economy, including vulnerable countries facing some of the highest U.S. tariffs.
“Uncertainty will spiral and trigger the rise of further protectionism,” she said, pointing to higher consumer costs for groceries, medication and transport and disruption for businesses.
“What is more, there seems to be no order in the disorder, no clear path to the complexity and chaos that is being created as all U.S. trading partners are hit,” she continued.
EU Council’s Costa urges free-trade deals with others
The trade tariffs imposed by the United States should urge Europe to reach free trade deals with other partners in the world, EU Council President Antonio Costa said on Thursday.
“We will engage with all our partners and continue to strengthen and expand our trade network. Now is the time to ratify the agreements with Mercosur, Mexico and decisively advance in the negotiations with India and other key partners,” Costa said in a post on X.
S. Korea mulls support measures
South Korea’s industry ministry said on Thursday that Seoul will pursue consultations with both senior and working-level U.S. officials about tariffs, while also analysing their specific impact on industries and preparing emergency support measures as soon as possible.
Tariffs harmful, says Swiss business group
U.S. tariffs imposed on Swiss imports are harmful and unjustified, Swiss business group Economiesuisse said on Thursday. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed a 31% tariff on imports from Switzerland compared with 20% on goods from the European Union and 10% from Britain.
Published on April 3, 2025
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