Daniel Kritenbrink:
I think that Vietnamese friends have been surprised and perhaps shocked by some of the steps that they have seen coming from Washington.
I think they were deeply unnerved by the initial steps to cut off the funding for the legacy of war work that you and I have discussed. But, secondly, they were probably even more stunned to see the 46 percent tariff rate levied on them on April 2.
And I think, for Vietnamese friends, they continue to look at the United States as an incredibly important partner with whom they can balance against China and other challenges. And so they were surprised to think that the United States would carry out such a move against them.
And I think, also, the Vietnamese had such a positive experience with President Trump in his first term. I think that only increased the impact of the moves. Now, the good news is, though, the Vietnamese moved very quickly. And after they, I think, got over the initial shock and some of the anger that they felt, they picked up the phone and now we have an agreement where the United States and Vietnam are going to conduct negotiations on some sort of a deal that will hopefully address U.S. concerns and bring those tariff levels down.
