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Trump aide Robert O’Brien tells Vietnam to curb China shipments to avoid duties

SCMP Monday | 11/23/2020 13:23

US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, left, greets Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh with an elbow bump at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo: EPA-EFE

US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien told Vietnamese leaders they must curb illegal re-routing of Chinese exports and purchase more US goods

US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien told Vietnamese leaders they must curb illegal re-routing of Chinese exports and purchase more US goods such as liquefied natural gas and military equipment to avoid American tariffs, the aide to President Donald Trump said in an interview.

The Commerce Department this month imposed preliminary anti-subsidy duties on Vietnamese car and truck tires, citing the nation’s “undervalued currency” among the reasons. Cracking down on Chinese trans-shipments and easing the US’s trade deficit with Vietnam “could be the basis for a reversal” of the tariffs, O’Brien said he told the government’s top leaders during his weekend visit to Hanoi.

O’Brien, who spoke in an interview with Bloomberg News, met with officials including Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Foreign Affairs Minister Pham Binh Minh, and told them the US may be able to provide financing to help with purchases of the American helicopters.

The leaders also talked about the nation’s relationship with its powerful neighbour, China, O’Brien said. China’s “incredibly aggressive” actions in the South China Sea prevents the Vietnamese from tapping resources – fisheries, LNG, oil drilling, he said. “They’re very concerned about that,” O’Brien added.

O’Brien said Vietnam is typically cautious with public statement related to China and wants to maintain good relations with their much larger neighbour country.

Vietnam’s strategy for standing up to Beijing is to work with other regional countries through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, though China has some leverage in the organisation through its ally Cambodia, O’Brien said.

Source: SCMP

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