US-Vietnam trade deal sows new China standoff

Hanoi (AFP) July 3, 2025

Vietnam's trade deal with the United States averts the most punishing of Donald Trump's "reciprocal" levies but has provoked new friction between Washington and Beijing. Vietnam has the third-biggest trade surplus with the United States of any country after China and Mexico, and was targeted with one of the highest rates in the US president's "Liberation Day" tariff blitz on April 2. The