BANGKOK – Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Vietnam for two days next week, the Vietnamese foreign ministry said Friday. The trip comes as the U.S. and China escalate a trade war, with Vietnam caught in the middle, accused by the Whitehouse trade advisor of “non-tariff cheating” for re-exporting Chinese goods.
China’s Xi is also heading to Malaysia and Cambodia next week, the state-run Xinhua news agency said, as Beijing courts Southeast Asian allies in the face of 145% U.S. tariffs.
Vietnam is the fourth-largest exporter to China, while China has been Vietnam’s largest trading partner for 20 years. Last year, their trade rose to a record US$205.2 billion, Vietnam said.
China invested US$25 billion in Vietnam in 2023, the fourth largest investor in the country, according to Vietnamese data.
The two sides agreed in August last year to strengthen their top-level “comprehensive strategic partnership” with further trade and investment deals, during a visit by To Lam, general secretary of Vietnam’s communist party, to Beijing.
Vietnam also has a comprehensive strategic partnership with the U.S. and has been locked in top-level talks on a trade deal and ways to reduce its record trade surplus with America.
On Wednesday, the U.S. imposed 46% tariffs on Vietnamese goods, some of the highest in the latest round of Trump-imposed import duties. That was cut to 10% within 24 hours in spite of presidential adviser Peter Navarro calling To Lam’s offer to cut tariffs on U.S. goods “meaningless.”
Navarro said the move wouldn’t dent Hanoi’s trade surplus and accused Vietnam of “cheating” by re-exporting Chinese goods as its own, stealing intellectual property and raising non-tariff barriers.
Vietnam has been hosting a series of foreign leaders as it looks to expand non-U.S. trade. In the past week it agreed deals with Belgium and Spain after the former’s king and latter’s prime minister visited Hanoi. Next month European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visits the country.
Edited by Stephen Wright.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Mike Firn for RFA.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.