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President Xi Jinping of China kicked off a weeklong tour of Southeast Asia Monday, landing in Hanoi and trying to rally other nations to Beijing\u2019s side as American tariffs threaten manufacturing networks and economic growth.<\/p>\n
In an essay published Monday in Vietnamese state media just before his arrival, Mr. Xi called on other countries to join with China in defending stability, free trade and \u201can open and cooperative international environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no winners in trade wars and tariff wars,\u201d Mr. Xi wrote, echoing comments he made recently in Beijing. \u201cProtectionism has no way out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Xi\u2019s weeklong tour of Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia aims to amplify that message. As President Trump\u2019s tariffs send shock waves through the global economy, Mr. Xi is both striking back against the United States, and telling the world that he is now the leader to rely on for wealth creation and for nations that feel betrayed by the wild swings of Mr. Trump\u2019s \u201cAmerica First\u201d agenda.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The next few days will likely be filled with dramatic, choreographed warmth \u2014 dozens of women in traditional Vietnamese dresses waving Chinese flags greeted Mr. Xi as he stepped onto the tarmac in Hanoi just before noon. But behind the scenes, there\u2019s a lot of uncertainty.<\/p>\n
Vietnam and its neighbors are all trying to appease<\/a> President Trump to get tariffs lowered, which may make them resistant to making bold pro-China pronouncements. The U.S.-China trade war \u2014 involving whopping tit-for-tat tariffs<\/a> and the suspension<\/a> of critical rare earths exports by China \u2014 has also made every country more vulnerable to a global recession, and more confused about where the world order might be heading.<\/p>\n Mr. Xi, some analysts said, may be far more anxious than he shows.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cXi will undoubtedly exude confidence,\u201d said Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific Program at the German Marshall Fund. \u201cBut the unpredictable trajectory of China\u2019s relations with the United States and the potential for decoupling of the U.S. and Chinese economies is likely extremely worrisome.\u201d<\/p>\n Asia\u2019s industrialized countries have a lot to lose. Many rose out of poverty alongside China through decades of free trade expansion, and the so-called reciprocal tariffs Mr. Trump announced this month slammed Asia harder than just anyone expected.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Vietnam found itself with a 46 percent tariff under calculations that put trade deficits at the center of the equation. For Cambodia, it was 49 percent while Malaysia\u2019s rate was 24 percent.<\/p>\n Even with Mr. Trump\u2019s sudden 90-day suspension of the levies, the threat of new taxes that would suppress demand and create new challenges for exporting nations has darkened the mood of the entire region, and made many countries question where to turn for help.<\/p>\n Vietnam is especially intertwined with both China, which is its largest trading partner, and the United States, which has been importing more and more from Vietnam<\/a> ever since Mr. Trump\u2019s first-term tariffs led companies to move production from China to other countries.<\/p>\n Vietnam\u2019s exports to the U.S. \u2014 worth $137 billion in 2024 \u2014 and its huge investments from foreign companies seeking to diversify away from China are now both in jeopardy.<\/p>\n \u201cVietnam is today more vulnerable to both China and the U.S. than ever,\u201d said Alexander Vuving, a professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In response, Hanoi\u2019s leaders are already trying to do what they have done for years \u2014 balance, flatter and hedge.<\/p>\n Teams of Vietnamese negotiators have gone to Washington to plead for lower tariffs, promising to buy more American products and lower trade barriers. This week, Vietnamese officials also pledged to crack down on the transshipment of Chinese products through Vietnam, which White House officials have described as a major impediment to lower tariffs.<\/p>\n Now Vietnam\u2019s leaders \u2014 with a two-day visit by Mr. Xi that had been planned before the tariffs, to celebrate 75 years of formal relations \u2014 are trying to keep China happy too.<\/p>\n Dozens of deals are expected to be signed during Mr. Xi\u2019s visit in an effort by both sides to show that collaboration will continue, regardless of American pressure.<\/p>\n