𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗦: 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣'𝗦 "𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗔𝗟" 𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗗𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗦~~𝗪𝗘 𝗘𝗫𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗧𝗡𝗔𝗠

 From the editor:  At first glance, the chart below seems to portray the U.S. as very moderate in applying "reciprocal" tariffs to other countries.  One column portends to display the "Tariffs Charged to the U.S.A." and the adjacent column "U.S.A. Discounted Reciprocal Tariffs."

Would you be surprised to know that the entire chart is based on lies?

Let's use one country, Vietnam, as an example.  

According to the chart, Vietnam charges 90% on all products imported from the United States, while, in return, the United States has implemented a seemingly reasonable 46% tariff on the goods Vietnam sells the U.S.  

That is simply not true. 

The United States is given Most Favored Nation (MFN) status by Vietnam, meaning an applied tariff rate of 9.4%.  A few items exported to Vietnam get a higher tariff, 15%.  These include artificial sweeteners, candies, shelled walnuts, ketchup and other tomato sauces, inkjet printers, soda ash and stainless steel bars and tools.

So, why does the Trump administration chart indicate that Vietnam "charges" the U.S. a 90% tariff?  Well, Trump confuses trade deficits with tariffs.  The United States buys far more from Vietnam than they buy from us.

For example, in 2024, the United States bought $119,501,485,006 from Vietnam, while they bought 15,102,669,219 from us.  ($120B vs $15B, rounding off the numbers.) So, the Trump team adds that difference of $105B in trade into the "tariffs" they say Vietnam is charging the U.S., but that's simply not true.  

Of course, Vietnam is a smaller country compared to the U.S., 101M to 340M in population, but also with a much lower per capita income, $5,000 to $70,390.

The full U.S. Report on Vietnam/United States trade for 2024 is reported below as published by the U.S. Trade Representative(USTR).

Vietnam’s Key Exports to the US, 2024
Items	Value (US$)	Proportion
Total	119,501,485,006	100.00%
Computers, electrical products, spare-parts and components thereof	23,201,555,610	19.42%
Machine, equipment, tools and instruments	22,052,523,094	18.45%
Textiles and garments	16,151,794,382	13.52%
Telephones, mobile phones and parts thereof	9,824,431,700	8.22%
Wood and wooden products	9,056,598,490	7.58%
Foot-wears	8,284,399,219	6.93%
Other products	8,111,464,983	6.79%
Other means of transportation, parts and accessories thereof	3,273,825,912	2.74%
Plastic products	3,081,809,424	2.58%
Fishery products	1,832,900,465	1.53%
Handbags, purses, suit-cases, headgear and umbrellas	1,802,632,964	1.51%
Toys and sports requisites; parts and accessories thereof	1,781,174,208	1.49%
Iron and steel products	1,331,044,294	1.11%
Iron and steel	1,318,963,272	1.10%
Still image, video cameras and sparts thereof	1,208,345,217	1.01%
Cashew nut	1,154,132,402	0.97%
Source: Vietnam Customs

 

Vietnam’s Key Imports from the US, 2024
Items	Value (US$)	Proportion
Total	15,102,669,219	100%
Computers, electrical products, spare-parts and components thereof	4,336,277,434	28.71%
Other products	1,580,331,721	10.46%
Machine, equipment, tools and instruments	1,099,999,051	7.28%
Animal folders and animal fodder materials	1,016,019,676	6.73%
Plastics	783,671,648	5.19%
Cotton	680,942,965	4.51%
Chemicals	637,544,790	4.22%
Fruits and vegetables	543,946,784	3.60%
Pharmaceutical products	512,534,682	3.39%
Other means of transportation, parts and accessories thereof	506,719,140	3.36%
Source: Vietnam Customs

How impactful is the new tariff on Vietnam’s trade?

According to data from Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT), the US has been Vietnam’s largest export market for many years. For the US, Vietnam stands as the 8th largest trading partner, contributing 4.13 percent of total export turnover to this market. In 2024, Vietnam specifically exported goods worth US$119.5 billion to the US, representing 29.5 percent of the country’s total export turnover. 16 categories of goods exported to the US that achieved an export turnover of US$1 billion or more.

In the first two months of the year, the US remained Vietnam’s primary export market. Export turnover to the US reached US$19.56 billion, accounting for 30 percent of the total national export turnover, marking a 16.5 percent increase compared to the same period last year.