US 12.5% Tariff Fails to Reflect Vietnam's Forced Labor Efforts: Foreign Ministry

Vietnam's Foreign Ministry has stated that the US's decision to impose a new 12.5% tariff on goods from Vietnam due to forced labor concerns does not fully reflect the country's efforts. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced the tariff measure against economies with forced labor concerns. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang noted that the Vietnamese government issued Decree 292/2026/ND-CP on July 22, 2026, which bans the import of goods extracted or manufactured wholly or partly through forced labor. Hang said the USTR's decision fails to fully reflect the realities on the ground and Vietnam's efforts to prevent, reduce, and eliminate forced labor, including its ban on imports of goods produced with forced labor. Hang added that Vietnam will continue to work with the US in a constructive and cooperative spirit. She urged the US side to fully take into account the measures Vietnam has adopted, its ongoing legislative and enforcement push, and the actual situation when adjusting tariffs on Vietnamese goods. The United States announced it would impose new tariffs effective Friday on 60 trading partners over forced labor concerns, replacing an expiring global duty rolled out earlier by President Donald Trump. Economies that have implemented a forced labor import prohibition or committed to do so are hit with the lower 10% rate, including Canada, the EU, India, and the United Kingdom. China, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam are among 38 others hit with the higher 12.5% tariff.