Trump’s aggressive tariffs are threatening to derail Vietnam’s ambitious growth target as diplomatic overtures to Washington are unlikely to shift policy.

In hope of avoiding punishing U.S. tariffs, Vietnam is prepared to crack down on Chinese goods being shipped to the United States via its territory and will tighten controls on sensitive exports to China,

The tariffs will hack at the root of Vietnam’s export-oriented economic model. In recent years its economy has benefited from manufacturers diversifying away from China, growing by an average of 7% a year over the past decade (excluding the pandemic).