Zhang Chundong assisted the company he oversees in expanding into Vietnam a year ago. This was one of many Chinese companies that have chosen the thriving manufacturing hub since the trade war during the first term of US President Donald Trump.
As industrial projects stagnate and Vietnam awaits the implementation of the massive 46 percent tax that Trump warned this month, the company, which distributes forklifts manufactured by China’s BYD, is now finding it difficult to accomplish the rapid growth it had anticipated.
“Some factories that we received orders from are almost ready for operation, but since the tariff news, we got notice that projects and the purchasing of our forklifts are on hold,” said Zhang, manager at Huochacha New Energy Group, whose clients in Vietnam include Chinese electronics company TCL.
“We should be in a stage of a rapid growth… (but) due to the tariffs, we are not,” he told AFP.
With Beijing already facing tariffs of up to 145 percent on several items, many Chinese companies in Vietnam, especially those exporting directly to the United States, are theoretically in a stronger position than they would be at home.
There is a little window before postponed reciprocal taxes take effect in July, and Hanoi, like most of the rest of the world, has been smacked with a general 10% duty. It is still possible to negotiate a lower figure.
However, Chinese companies AFP spoke with in the industrialized northern province of Bac Ninh, Vietnam, most of which are connected to the export supply chain, claimed that investors were hesitant and that there was a general sense of unease.
Zhang, 39, said he had confidence in the negotiations but explained that three or four of the firm’s projects were on hold.
“I’ve talked with a few clients… and the answers at the moment are all the same, we need to keep waiting.”
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