Japan, Vietnam pledge closer economic cooperation as Trump tariffs loom

Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru said that the two nations will work “to maintain a free and open international order based on the rule of law.”

Japan and Vietnam have pledged to deepen economic cooperation as a hedge against the possible impacts of the U.S. tariffs announced by President Donald Trump earlier this month.

The pledges came as Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru wound up a two-day state visit to Vietnam yesterday, part of a regional tour that also includes a stop in the Philippines. During his time in Hanoi, Ishiba met with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and other top officials, including To Lam, the head of the Communist Party of Vietnam, President Luong Cuong, and Tran Thanh Man, the president of the National Assembly.

Japanese and Vietnamese officials signed four cooperation agreements, including on boosting trade in energy transition products and on research and development on semiconductors. According to the Japan Times, “both countries pledged to advance $20 billion in decarbonization efforts and clean energy cooperation projects, as well as promote future collaboration in city infrastructure, disaster prevention, and agriculture.”

Security cooperation was also on the agenda during Ishiba’s visit. He and Chinh exchanged views on the situation in the East and South China seas, where China has become more forceful in asserting its claims, according to a Japanese media report. They agreed to establish a communications framework between their foreign and defense ministries at the vice-ministerial level.

Overall, however, Ishiba’s trip was dominated by the shared concerns about the crippling “reciprocal tariffs” imposed by Trump on April 2, which saw Vietnam hit with a tariff of 46 percent, and Japan with a tariff of 24 percent.

“The world economy is becoming more uncertain, and the impact on the Southeast Asian region is also becoming apparent,” Ishiba said yesterday during a press conference after his meeting with Chinh. “We will cooperate to maintain a free and open international order based on the rule of law.”

Chinh added that the two countries had “agreed to uphold the global order of free trade based on international rules.”

The Trump administration has since announced a 90-day postponement of the tariffs, and both Japan and Vietnam are currently engaged in talks with U.S. officials that they hope result in a reduction, if not a total removal, of the punitive duties. Whatever the outcome of these talks, Ishiba’s meeting with Vietnamese leaders is just the latest in a series of high-level meetings between Asian leaders – the possible beginning of an incipient Asian effort to shore up the institutions of economic multilateralism and resist the global slide into protectionism.

In mid-April, Vietnam hosted China’s President Xi Jinping and top officials from South Korea, while Japan took part in a trilateral meeting with China and South Korea in late March, just prior to Trump’s tariff announcement. Indeed, Ishiba’s comments in Hanoi bore a close resemblance to those made by Xi two weeks ago. In an editorial published in the Vietnamese and Chinese official media on April 14, the Chinese leader argued that “there are no winners in a trade war, or a tariff war” and that China and Vietnam “should resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment.”

The two nations have already established a strong base for economic integration. Japan is a major investor in Vietnam: Reuters cited figures from the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance showing that Japanese firms have invested a total of $78 billion in the country, mostly in the manufacturing sector. It is also Vietnam’s fourth-largest export market and third-largest source of imports.

This is matched by the strategic complementarities between Vietnam and Japan, two culturally Sinitic nations dwelling in close proximity to a rising China. Both nations share a concern about China’s expansive maritime claims in disputed parts of the East and South China seas. They are also united by a mutual desire to diversify their economic partnerships and avoid too much dependence on China, while remaining skeptical of any U.S. effort to enlist them into an economic bloc aligned against China – one possible goal of the Trump administration in the current trade talks.

This makes it clear that the two nations view both China’s maritime expansionism and Washington’s belligerent trade policy as anathema to  “a free and open international order based on the rule of law.” Accordingly, their strategic complementarities will only grow more pronounced if the Trump administrations continues along its current path of protectionism and economic retrenchment.

By Sebastian Strangio – The Diplomat – April 29, 2025