For Thanh Cong Garment, a Vietnamese supplier to apparel companies including Adidas, Calvin Klein and Columbia, a trade deal to avoid the worst of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs should have been a huge relief.
Vietnam was one of only two countries that Trump said has clinched a deal with the US by a July 9 deadline to avoid his so-called reciprocal tariffs. This week, many of its neighbours received letters from the White House threatening, in some cases, higher levies.
But the company was left puzzling over the lack of detail in the agreement. Trump announced a blanket 20 per cent tariff rate, down from an initial threat of 46 per cent, but neither Vietnam nor the US has provided further details or released a final version of a trade agreement.