Genocidal Chinese dictator Xi Jinping arrived in Vietnam on Monday for a state visit whose top priority appears to be ensuring Hanoi’s support as Beijing faces soaring tariff rates meant to limit its influence on the American economy.
The fellow communist country received Xi with a lavish ceremony in Hanoi. Xi, in turn, addressed the Vietnamese people in a column published by the national newspaper Nhan Dan in which he emphasized their identities as “friendly socialist neighbors” and asserted that a “tariff war will produce no winner.”
While the “tariff war” comment is primarily a reference to ongoing tensions between Washington and Beijing over President Donald Trump’s policies to strengthen America’s industrial competitiveness, it could also have been intended as a reference to Vietnam increasing tariffs on Chinese steel products just as Trump announced tariffs on nearly every American trade partner on April 2, which he dubbed “Liberation Day.”
In addition to imposing tariffs on China, Vietnam was among the first countries to send a delegation to negotiate with Trump following “Liberation Day.” Trump claimed after a phone call with Communist Party chief To Lam that Hanoi “wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the U.S.”
Xi arrived in Vietnam after a prolonged period of silence regarding the tariffs in which he allowed lower-ranking Communist Party spokespersons to threaten and berate the United States, a tactic typically referred to as “Wolf Warrior diplomacy” after a popular anti-American Chinese action film. Xi has only spoken once about the new tariffs in public remarks — during a meeting with visiting socialist Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Friday.
“There is no winner in a tariff war, and going against the world will only result in self-isolation,” Xi threatened.
Chinese state media emphasized the hospitality Vietnam showed Xi upon his arrival and his hope for greater cooperation among communist countries, airing footage of cheering crowds waving hammer and sickle flags and a massive military band performance. Xi is expected to visit Vietnam for two days.
Despite being in charge of his country for over a decade, Xi has visited neighboring Vietnam only four times as “president” of China, in part due to a prolonged period of no travel following the outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
While the opening ceremonies featured no concrete details of trade conversations, Xi made it clear in his Nhan Dan article that fighting the tariffs — Vietnam’s and America’s — was a key priority.
“Trade war and tariff war will produce no winner, and protectionism will lead nowhere,” he declared in the article. “Our two countries should resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and an open and cooperative international environment.”
Describing Vietnam and China as “friendly socialist neighbors,” Xi urged Hanoi to “deepen strategic mutual trust and advance the socialist cause,” and for the people to “act on the guidance of the leaders.”
“During modern times, pioneers of Chinese and Vietnamese revolutions together explored a path to national salvation and made important contribution to the Third World’s victory in the struggle against colonialism and imperialism,” he claimed. “The China-Viet Nam community with a shared future is based on strong political mutual trust.”
“China and Viet Nam have pursued closer cooperation on industrial and supply chains amid a sluggish global economic recovery,” Xi continued. “China has been Viet Nam’s biggest trading partner for over 20 years in a row, with total bilateral trade exceeding US$260 billion in 2024.”
While China has enjoyed outsized influence in the Vietnamese economy for decades, Xi’s claim of “strong political mutual trust” ignored growing resentment in Vietnam over Beijing’s repeated attempts to colonize parts of Vietnamese territory, particularly the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. China claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, violating the sovereignty of Vietnam in addition to the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan. In response, the Vietnamese military has built facilities in and around the Paracel Islands and strengthened relations with the Philippines and the United States.
Nonetheless, Xi warned the Vietnamese people that the world was entering “a new period of turbulent transformation” that required them to embrace China.
“Contributing to each other’s success and pursuing common development, China and Vietnam have set an example of solidarity and cooperation in the Global South,” he claimed.
“China welcomes more quality Vietnamese products in the Chinese market, and encourages more Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Vietnam,” he added.
President Trump imposed a 46 percent tariff on Vietnam as part of his “Liberation Day” announcement, far from the highest rates imposed on nations such as Lesotho and Madagascar. Trump rapidly rewarded Vietnam — and every country except China — with a 90-day tariff pause after, he claimed, every other country aside from China attempted to negotiate trade deals more favorable to the United States.
The Vietnamese Communist Party was the first to ask for negotiations in person in part thanks to having coincidentally scheduled a delegation to visit Washington as the tariffs were announced. Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc arrived in Washington on April 3, the day after “Liberation Day,” accompanied by the heads of multiple top Vietnamese corporations.
“The business community hopes that the Government’s prompt response, along with the Deputy Prime Minister’s visit, will pave the way for negotiations leading to a more balanced agreement — easing the burden on businesses amid the current tough business landscape,” the Saigon Times reported after his initial meetings.
Nhan Dan reported on April 9 that Phoc and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer agreed to begin negotiations on an entirely new bilateral trade agreement that would result in Vietnam avoiding the tariffs and the United States presumably balancing trade with the country. Phoc was highly complimentary of Washington, thanking Greer for support for a “strong, independent, self-resilient, and prosperous” Vietnam.
In addition to that meeting, Trump spoke directly to Communist leader To Lam after “Liberation Day.”
“Just had a very productive call with To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, who told me that Vietnam wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the U.S.,” Trump said in a social media post. “I thanked him on behalf of our Country, and said I look forward to a meeting in the near future.”
The new agreement, Vietnamese officials have noted, will have to take into consideration Vietnam’s free trade agreements with 17 other nations (Vietnam and the U.S. have a free trade agreement, as well). One of those agreements is with the Association of Southeast Asian Naitons (ASEAN) of which China is a member, though the agreement is not directly with China.
It is unclear if the ASEAN free trade agreement has an impact on Vietnam’s tariffs on Chinese steel announced in early April. Most Chinese galvanized steel companies are now facing a 37.13 percent tariff intended to prevent “dumping,” a practice where a highly productive company exports much of its excess into a foreign market to tank prices and destroy competitors.
