The European Union and Vietnam are moving closer together: Relations between the EU and the Southeast Asian emerging country have been upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership. This emerges from a joint statement.
“At a time when the international rules-based order is threatened from several sides, we must stand together as reliable and predictable partners,” said European Council President António Costa in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.
Specifically, it is a close, long-term cooperation in key areas such as foreign policy, trade, security, technology and climate protection. Vietnamese President Luong Cuong spoke of a “historic milestone”. Both sides also referred to existing agreements such as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
New partnerships because of Trump’s tariff policy
The rapprochement is also likely to have taken place against the background of US trade policy. Under President Donald Trump, the United States imposed 20 percent tariffs on imports from Vietnam.
Vietnam is currently one of the USA’s most important trading partners in Southeast Asia. The closer cooperation with the EU is also seen as a sign that Vietnam wants to broaden its economic relations and become more independent of individual sales markets.
“The export markets must be restructured and the quality of goods improved in order to open up other potential markets,” the government emphasized last year. At that time, Trump initially threatened tariffs of 46 percent on imports from Vietnam.
