Macron announces €9 billion in business deals during Vietnam visit • FRANCE 24 English

Macron announces €9 billion in business deals during Vietnam visit • FRANCE 24 English

It’s time now for business. We say hello to Yuka. Uh they’re breathing a sigh of relief here in Europe. Tariffs that were due to come into effect have been postponed. Donald Trump even spoke to Ursula Vander Lion on the phone. On the phone, yeah, he called it good talks or wonderful. Uh he was positive about it. But on Friday, if you remember, the US president said that he’d impose 50% tariffs on all EU imports from next month, voicing frustration at the slow pace of trade negotiations. After a phone call with EU chief von line over the weekend, he paused them. He postponed the deadline until July the 9th. The block spokesperson said that there’s a new impetus for the negotiations, although it’s unclear what can be achieved over the next few weeks. Jenny Shin takes a look. It’s just the latest of the twists and turns in Donald Trump’s trade war. The US president has agreed to delay 50% tariffs on imports from the European Union after talks with the blocks chief Ursula Fondonderion on Sunday. French President Emanuel Macron says he’s confident about trade talks between the EU and Washington going forward. The discussions are going well. I believe there was a good exchange between President Trump and President Vanderlayion and I hope that we can continue on this path which should lead us back to the lowest possible tariffs allowing for the most fruitful trade possible. The EU is already subject to global 10% tariffs along with 25% duties on cars, steel, and aluminium. And questions remain on how the two sides are going to iron out fundamental disagreements. EU ministers took the example of the deal struck between the UK and the US that saw the baseline 10% reciprocal tariffs remain, saying they’d barely call it a trade deal at all. Exactly what those are will depend on exactly what the US does. As we’ve just been discussing, it’s really unclear what the US is going to do. These measures could include tariffs on specific sectors. They could include other sorts of measures under the EU’s anti-coercion tool. The EU has repeatedly said it stands ready to retaliate to Washington should the trade war escalate. And Yuka, this is all happening as Mron is in Vietnam, France, positioning itself as the third man, if you will, in all this. Well, Mr. Macron is indeed the first president to visit uh the former colony in almost a decade, and a host of business deals have been clinched. In total, 14 agreements worth 9 billion euros were signed on Monday with officials suggesting more announcements will come later. They include the purchase of 20 Airbus A330 Neo widebody jets by lowcost airline Vietjet, adding to the plane makers 86% share in Vietnam’s fleet. Airbus’s defense and space unit also agreed to cooperate on satellites. Meanwhile, maritime transport giant CMACGM has signed a deal to build a deep water container terminal in North Vietnam by 2028. Now, Vietnam is among the world’s fastest growing economies. GDP expanded even during COVID and last year grew at a solid clip of over 7%. The country has come to be seen as a viable alternative to China in providing cheap labor and access to Asian markets. Yeah. And the French president keen to capitalize. uh yeah on current uncertainties now Macaron’s visit comes against a very different back backdrop uh from a state visit to France by then Vietnamese president Tlam last October that was when France upgraded its relations with Vietnam to a comprehensive strategic partnership the highest designation for Hanoi’s diplomatic ties currently the only European country to hold this status although Vietnam has signed similar accords with countries like the US Russia and China now Donald Trump’s trade Trade policies have made Vietnam a more attractive risk hedge for the West, but also a target of new 46% US tariffs currently suspended. Like others, Hanoi is negotiating a deal with Washington. And with an economy heavily dependent on exports to America, it has signaled major concessions like fasttracking a planned Trump Gulf Resort. It may also purchase hundreds of Boeing jet, something that would threaten Airbus’s dominant dominance there with an 86% market share currently. Now, Eman used the opportunity to make a renewed push for Europe. In an increasingly unstable international environment marked by the erosion of the pillars of the global order, there is an urgent need to give even more substance to this special partnership between states and organizations that share a commitment to the multilateral framework and to international trade based on robust rules. August. Okay. And the the market jitters for Europe subsiding. How are the Marquettes reacting? Well, Donald Trump’s threat of 50% tariffs against the EU last Friday royal markets once again. And the pools announced on Sunday lifted European stocks and currency. Uh Paris’s Kakahon closed the day up 1.2%. Frankfurt stacks rose more than 1 and a half%. London was closed for a bank holiday today. And US markets are also closed for Memorial Day Monday. The euro rose to one month high against the against the US dollar and the euro’s own bond deals held steady amid a tariff threat spite as we saw earlier. All right, it’s not all good news though in Europe, particularly once again the auto industry. Well, the Swedish car maker Volvo uh and says that it will cut 3,000 mostly white collar jobs representing around 15% of its office staff. Now, Volvo has been grappling with high costs and slowing demand for electric cars coupled with global trade uncertainty. Uh, job cuts have already been announced in recent months by the likes of Nissan, GM, and Ford with most of its production based in Europe and China. Volvo is most more exposed to new US tariffs than many of its European rivals that have manufacturing bases in North America already. The layoffs announced on Monday is part of a restructuring plan announced in April aimed at cutting costs by 18 billion Swedish crona or about 1.6 billion euros. And that’s it from the business desk. All right, many thanks for that. Yuka Roy.

Emmanuel Macron announced business deals worth €9 billion in Vietnam, the first leg of his week-long tour of Southeast Asia, as Europe tries to boost ties with the free-market communist state. But first, European stocks rallied and the euro hit a one-month high against the US dollar after Donald Trump walked back from his threat of new, 50 percent tariffs on EU imports, giving until July 9 to reach a trade deal. It’s unclear how the two sides can iron out fundamental differences during that window.
#France #Vietnam #trade ties

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