Unexpected turning point in reciprocal tax: The trade "fire" cools down

Mr. Trump's economic and foreign policy decisions are always unpredictable and often create tensions, especially in US-China relations. (Photo: Vietnam+)

Amid escalating global trade tensions, US President Donald Trump made a big surprise when he announced a 90-day suspension of reciprocal tariffs on most trading partners, while significantly reducing the tariff rate to 10% during this period.

The decision was announced on the social network Truth Social on April 9 (local time) and immediately attracted the attention of analysts and the business community around the world .

The unpredictable and unknown turning point called “Trump”

President Trump's announcement quickly became the center of attention, especially his decision to "ease" tariff policies for more than 75 countries that have proactively contacted the United States for negotiations. However, China is not on this "preferential" list, as the tax rate on goods from this country continues to be pushed up to 125%.

Regarding this move, Mr. Pham Tuyen, Director of Brokerage at KIS Vietnam Securities Company, commented: "The fact that Mr. Trump made a '180-degree' change in the previously announced tariff rate for most countries within 90 days, and at the same time reduced the tariff to 10% during this period, except for China, is an unexpected development. This shows that the focus of the Trump administration's tariff policy has always been the fierce trade competition with China, which has been clearly demonstrated since his first term as president."

According to Mr. Tuyen, Mr. Trump's economic and foreign policy decisions always contain unpredictable elements, often creating tensions, especially in US-China relations.

This positive move partly meets the expectations of the Government , businesses and investors of most countries, including Vietnam and the United States. (Photo: Vietnam+)

"Although this trait of President Trump has been somewhat evident in his previous term, imposing high tariffs on a global scale risks igniting a real trade war, leading to an economic recession with serious consequences. Perhaps because of this concern, Mr. Trump's advisors have persuaded to postpone the imposition of tariffs for 90 days so that the parties have the opportunity to dialogue and seek a solution that balances interests," Mr. Tuyen analyzed.

Stressing that the core nature of trade is towards liberalization and bilateral cooperation, where benefits are shared harmoniously, Tuyen said the move could be seen as a positive change and showed that Mr. Trump had listened. This is probably also a message about the floor tax that taxed countries can negotiate with the United States.

Sharing the same opinion, Dr. Can Van Luc added that this move is basically positive, meeting the expectations of the Government, businesses and investors of the majority of countries, including Vietnam and the United States. This creates conditions for the parties to review and negotiate agreements and the 90-day period is long enough to finalize the agreements. Thus, the Government, businesses and domestic investors also have more time to calculate other plans, which also contributes to reducing worries and tax costs for businesses and people...

Proactively respond and seek opportunities in challenges

In recent days, Vietnam has taken proactive and timely actions to respond to the risk of being taxed. General Secretary To Lam had a direct phone call with President Donald Trump on this issue, and at the same time sent Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc to the United States as a Special Envoy to directly negotiate.

During his visit to the United States from April 9, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Here, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc affirmed that Vietnam attaches importance to strengthening and deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the United States. The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that Vietnam is persistent in building an independent and self-reliant economy and pursuing a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization and diversification of foreign relations. He also affirmed his desire to cooperate closely with relevant US agencies to concretize the contents previously discussed between General Secretary To Lam and President Donald Trump, in order to maintain stable and sustainable economic and trade relations, bringing benefits to both businesses and people of the two countries.

Regarding bilateral economic and trade relations, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc said that the Vietnam-US relationship is complementary. Vietnam does not compete with the US's strong products, but on the contrary, imports many high-tech products and services from the US. He also pointed out that Vietnam has proactively resolved many issues that the US is concerned about.

Faced with unpredictable developments in US trade policy, regulatory agencies have been proactive in implementing many solutions to take advantage of opportunities and minimize negative impacts. Mr. Mai Son, Deputy Director of the Tax Department, Ministry of Finance, said: "To respond to the decision from the US and promote double-digit GDP growth as targeted this year, we have specific solutions."

According to Mr. Mai Son, one of the key solutions is to strengthen tax refund control for enterprises that do simple processing and assembly and then export. In addition, the tax sector promotes the application of information technology in tax management, builds a database on international trade transactions and establishes an information sharing mechanism with the US tax authority.

"This will help increase transparency in bilateral trade activities and create a basis for the two sides to effectively coordinate in preventing transnational tax fraud," Mr. Mai Son emphasized.

In addition, Mr. Son said that the Ministry of Finance is also speeding up the resolution of problems in VAT refunds for enterprises with on-site import-export activities as designated by foreign traders already present in Vietnam. This is to clear the flow of working capital of enterprises, encourage investment expansion and export production. On the other hand, the Tax Authority also has sanctions to strictly handle violations.

The Deputy Director of the Tax Department also shared about the tax industry's proactiveness since the change in the US government. "Based on the Government's macro management, in recent times we have proactively proposed policies to create momentum for the economy in general and domestic enterprises. With these impacts, we hope to share some of the difficulties that enterprises may encounter when applying US tariffs," Mr. Mai Son expressed.

Mr. Son cited Decree 73 of the Government, which reduces import tax rates on many items from major trading partners, including the United States, with many tax lines reduced to 0%. Accordingly, there are 16 groups of items imported from the United States to Vietnam that have reduced taxes, such as cars, agricultural products, coal, wood, etc.

“This is a big step of goodwill from the beginning of the Vietnamese Government in its efforts to balance the trade balance between the two countries, while creating conditions for Vietnamese consumers to have more access to imported goods from the United States,” Mr. Mai Son analyzed.

Vietnam does not compete with the United States' strong products, but on the contrary, imports many high-tech products and services from the United States. (Photo: Vietnam+)

In addition, the Government has also issued many other policies to support businesses, such as Decree 81 extending the deadline for paying special consumption tax on domestically produced and assembled cars and Decree 82 extending the deadline for paying taxes and land rents in 2025 for many economic sectors. Data from the Tax Department shows that the total amount of extended taxes in 2025 is estimated at VND199,000 billion. Previously, from 2021 to present, a total of about VND900,000 billion in taxes have been approved by the Government and the National Assembly for exemption and extension to support businesses.

According to Mr. Tuyen, President Trump’s decision to postpone the imposition of tariffs, although bringing “rays of hope” for easing trade tensions, still contains many unpredictable factors. However, continuing to increase tariffs on China shows that the United States is still maintaining great pressure on this country, thereby making the next 90 days play a key role in shaping the global trade situation.

Specifically, Mr. Tuyen commented that the proactive foreign policy and efforts from Vietnam's management agencies have shown careful preparation to respond to external fluctuations. Being included in the list of countries with temporary tax deferrals and tax reductions shows that initial negotiation efforts have brought positive results. To ensure sustainable national interests, the Government needs to continue to closely monitor the situation, maintain dialogue and flexibly adjust policies to maximize opportunities and minimize potential risks.

“President Trump’s decision to postpone tariffs is an unexpected development, sending mixed signals to the global economy. With proactive and flexible foreign affairs and timely economic management solutions from the Government, Vietnam is demonstrating its ability to respond effectively to complex fluctuations in international trade, aiming for sustainable development and maximum protection of national interests,” said Mr. Tuyen./.

According to Vietnam+ (Vietnam News Agency)

Source: https://baoapbac.vn/kinh-te/202504/buoc-ngoat-bat-ngo-ve-thue-doi-ung-ngon-lua-thuong-mai-ha-nhiet-1039310/