For Vietnam’s Legion of Factory Workers, the math of earning the cost was enough complicated enough before President Trump announced a no less than the rate for the goods they make.
Nguyen Thi Tuyet Hanh worked two factory jobs two days a week, almost a year after her husband lost his job in 2023. She had no other choice to feed their four children and keep them at school.
“It was brutal,” said Mrs. Hanh, 40,. Her husband works full time again in a factory, but Mr. Trump to one 46 percent rate About import from Vietnam is above their family, which lives in a row of concrete rental properties on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City.
“My family has experienced that difficult time – I don’t want to live it again,” said Mrs. Hanh, who earns $ 577 a month as a line manager who supervises 138 employees who make shoes for Nike, the French sporting goods company Salomon and other global brands.
Anxiety echoes on her factory floor, alive with the buzzing of sewing machines that sew the fabric for shoes that are sent to the United States. Mr. Trump pampered the rate on Vietnam and similar taxes on dozens of other countries for 90 days. But it hardly makes it possible. The destabilizing prospect that the rates will be restored has already broken down on the economic growth of Vietnam, which depends on making things for American consumers.
Vietnam’s textile and clothing factories have paper-thin profit margins-average 5 percent, managers said. And although some of them have performed the production to switch out orders prior to the TariefdeAdline in July, others started reducing jobs or have frozen recruitment because American retailers have started to cancel orders.
No country has grown anymore As production -economy In the past 15 years than Vietnam. But at that time it has increasingly become dependent on the demand of the United States, which contributed to more than a quarter of his economy last year.
“Everyone now lives in great uncertainty,” says Tran Nhu Tung, chairman of Thanh Cong, a Vietnamese clothing manufacturer with factories and a mill in five locations. The 6,000 employees make clothing for Eddie Bauer, New Balance, Adidas and others.
Mr. Tung’s customers in the United States started asking thanh Cong to lower his prices. “This is a big pressure for the company because the profit margin is very low,” he said.
Shortly after the rates were announced, the Thanh Cong management team began to discuss other regions where they could sell, such as the Central East and Europe. The company also talks to its American customers to ensure that they can afford strong new import taxes.
“I don’t want to fire people,” said Mr. Tung. “We try everything to keep our people here.”
Thanh Cong has received requests from some of his American retail customers to increase production, and the company tries to meet. Mr. Tung is optimistic that his government can do that Close a deal With the Trump government. Whatever the two countries will establish for the future of his company.
Hours after Mr Trump had announced mutual rates at nearly 60 countries, the best leader of Vietnam, called him, called him and offered to lower the rates for American import to zero, encouraging the United States to follow. He then sent a letter To Mr. Trump, to personally ask the president in Washington at the end of May to “” jointly reach an agreement. “
Mr. Tung, who is also vice -chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Appariation, said that the breaking point for most factories would be a definitive rate that was much more than 20 percent.
Clothing from Vietnam is currently taxed at almost 28 percent. This includes a new rate of 10 percent that the Trump administration has placed in all countries on 2 April, in addition to an existing rate of approximately 18 percent on all Vietnamese items of clothing. A definitive rate of 20 percent or more would eat deep in the profit of both factories and their customers.
“In this scenario, the factory must reduce its net margin, and then the large US buyers should reduce their margins and consumers will have to pay more for their clothing,” he said.
Although things look bad for Vietnam, there is some hope that it will do better than his neighbor in the North, China, which is especially difficult by American rates. The loss of China could be Vietnam’s profit. But the failure of considerably reducing the 46 percent figure would be a time to view thousands of Vietnamese companies that make things to send to the United States.
For Mian Apparel it is the uncertainty that is the most disturbing. The seven factories and two laundries, mainly in the north of Vietnam, have 12,000 employees who make swimwear, jeans and jackets for brands such as Costco, JC Penney, Carter’s, Target, Gap and Walmart.
“Uncertainty is not good for business,” said VU Manh Hung, deputy Chief Operating Officer of Mian Apparel. Customers push him to deliver goods faster. The factories take on more employees and find other ways to produce more before the 90-day break ends in rates.
Tran Quang, a manager at a candle and home scenting company, said he should not have dismissed employees in the three factories of his company.
But he is anxious because in the coming months normally are the high season for his company, of which he asked for not to be mentioned. This is when his factories fill orders for the Christmas season. Instead of hiring more employees as he usually does around this time, Mr. Quang firmly fixed.
About 90 percent of his company customers are in the United States. For weeks after the rates were announced, he heard nothing from them. It was nerve -racking because orders usually come in every week. In the past few days, some customers have started to cancel orders while others are leaving new ones.
Some experts have said that if the United States and Vietnam cannot reach an agreement, the Trump government could extend the break in rates.
For the factories and their employees this would be just as bad as a high rate.
“If there is an uncertainty, customers can reduce their supply chain,” said Mr. Quang. “Why would they still wait 90 days? What if the result is bad?”
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