The move has sent shockwaves through a region of US strategic importance that had respected Trump as tough on Beijing

Vietnam had tried to appease Donald Trump: tariffs on US goods were reduced; regulations were passed to allow Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch its Starlink in the country. The prime minister, Pham Minh Chinh, even joked in January that he would happily “play golf all day long” at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida if it could “bring benefits to my country and my people”.

The strategies do not appear to have worked. Trump has inflicted an extraordinary 46% tariff on Vietnam that threatens to devastate its economic growth plans and undermine relations between the two countries. The tariff has sent shockwaves through Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse where Trump has always been fairly popular, and across south-east Asia.

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The factory that produces the Land Rover employs 9,000 people – now the town is in the middle of a ‘perfect storm’ created by the US president’s import taxes on cars

Ever since the first Land Rover rolled off the production line in Solihull in 1948, the medieval market town has become synonymous with the carmaker. But the fallout from the US president’s recent actions threatens to wreak havoc on the flagbearer of the UK’s automotive industry.

Last week, Donald Trump announced new import taxes of 25% on cars and car parts coming into the US in a move the president said would drive growth and spur on investment. The Institute for Public Policy Research warns this could be costly, with 25,000 UK jobs at risk.

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White House official says an additional 20% tariff, tied to measures targeting fentanyl-related imports, brings the total to its current level

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• US-China trade war intensifies as Beijing’s tariffs come into effect after Trump pause

China and the European Union have exchanged views on strengthening their economic and trade cooperation in response to US tariffs, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday, according to Reuters news agency.

In a video call on Tuesday, China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao discussed with European trade and economic security commissioner Maros Sefcovic the restart of talks on trade relief and to immediately carry out negotiations on electric vehicle price commitments, the Chinese ministry statement said.

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