By Faith Barabara N Ruhinda updated at 1144 EAT on Monday 14 April 2025

The price of clothing – a major export for Vietnam – will not go up automatically in line with tariffs, Sitkoff says, as it’s all linked to where the materials come from.

But, he adds, there’s “no doubt these tariffs are an attack on the American consumer”.

For once, there are far more risers on the FTSE 100 than fallers.

Following Trump exempting smartphones and computers from tariffs (for now), technology related companies have seen their share price increasing this morning. These include the likes of Convatec, which makes medical products and technology.

It is the same on the FTSE 250. Cambridge computer maker Raspberry Pi’s share price has jumped by 5%.

How long will that last? Who knows – the day is young and Trump is, presumably, still in bed and not on social media.

Trump says he will announce his tariff plans on imported computer chips this week, telling reporters “we want to make our chips and semiconductors and other things in our country”.

But one expert has warned about the amount of time and investment needed to achieve that goal.

The reality is [semiconductor fabrication plants] take years and tens of billions of dollars to build and the administration knows that,” Marc Einstein, research director at Counterpoint Research.

What I think is ultimately going on is the current administration is looking for a deal and they have said as much.

Einstein adds that would have a “strong and quick negative impact” on large US technology firms like Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft.

He cites national security and strong demand as major reasons for the US wanting to push China out of its chip market.

It’s unsurprising the US is trying to use its clout to get a piece of the pie and to circumvent China and possibly other countries from gaining dominance in the space.

As we’ve been reporting, Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, where he is set to hold talks with top officials.

New figures show China’s exports to the US rose in the first three months of the year as factories rushed out shipments before the latest US tariffs took effect.

According to official data, Chinese exports to America increased by 4.5% in the period. The US was the largest single overseas destination for Chinese exports between January and March, amounting to $115.6bn (£88.2bn).

China also said on Monday that its total exports grew 12.4% year-on-year in March.

Xi is scheduled to leave Hanoi tomorrow afternoon, following a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the resting place of Vietnam’s figurehead and Communist revolutionary leader.

The Chinese president is scheduled then to spend three days in Malaysia, where he will attend a state banquet hosted by the king and meet Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Some analysts have called Xi’s South East Asia tour a strategic “charm offensive” as the trade war rages and Beijing presents itself as an alternative to the US.

The countries Xi is visiting are among the hardest hit by Trump’s tariffs, with Vietnam and Cambodia slapped with 46% and 49% import levies, respectively. The US has since announced a 90-day pause on some of these measures.

Cambodia is the last stop on Xi’s tour, where he will meet Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father Hun Sen. China provides half of all Cambodia’s direct investment from abroad and most of its foreign aid.

While Xi was in Vietnam in December 2023, his last visit to Cambodia was in 2016, and Malaysia three years before that.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has touched down in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, state media Xinhua says.

His two-day visit will see him meeting his Vietnamese counterpart Luong Cuong, as well as other top ranking officials, including the prime minister and general secretary.

This tour of three South East Asian countries was long-planned, but has now taken on heightened significance in the wake of the US tariff shock on the region.

State media has painted China as a safe port in a storm for South East Asia, stressing friendship, dependability and a pragmatic focus on growth through expanding trade.

Before his arrival in Vietnam, Xi Jinping talked up the two countries’ shared communist values – neither will make any public mention of the war they fought 46 years ago or their dispute over islands in the South China Sea.

China’s influence in this region has been rising for many years, yet most South East Asian governments will still try to maintain equidistance between the two superpowers.

Despite the threat posed by the tariffs to their export-dependent economies, unlike China they have offered talks and concessions to President Trump, not retaliation.

China is an essential trading partner, but cannot replace the US as an export market; in fact there is growing concern here that Chinese products, already a challenge to local retailers, will now be dumped in South East Asia in even larger quantities now they’ve been blocked by the US tariff wall.

Stock markets across Asia are up after the US government granted temporary exclusions to steep tariffs on smartphones, computers and some other electronics.

Much of the assembly of those items takes place in the region – largely in China. The exemptions appear to affect about 20 products – accounting for roughly 23% of imports from China into the US, according to Reuters.

Stocks in Taiwanese technology companies have risen – many of them are major suppliers to electronics giants like Apple.

Shares in Foxconn, Apple’s largest iPhone maker, have gained around 4%, with contract laptop maker Quanta up 7% and Inventec – which also makes artificial intelligence servers – rising 4%.

But shares in TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker have slipped, after US President Donald Trump said he would announce a tariff rate on imported semiconductors over the next week. He did add however, that there would be flexibility on some companies in the sector.

Meanwhile, China has once again urged the US to completely abolish the reciprocal tariffs.

Ahead of a three-nation trip to South East Asia, President Xi Jinping, wrote in an editorial that: “There are no winners in trade wars and tariff wars, and protectionism has no way out.

Trump says he will provide an update on his administration’s approach on semiconductor tariffs on Monday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping starts a tour of South East Asia today as both his country and the region are in US President Trump’s tariffs spotlight.

His trip will take in Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia – key economic partners of China’s.

The three countries, which rely heavily on China for trade, were facing taxes of 24% to 49% on imports to the US, before a 90-day pause was announced last week.

With China being hit by mammoth 145% tariffs, Xi is looking to shore up ties with South East Asia, which Beijing has “very strong links [to] in terms of both trade and foreign direct investment,” says Lavanya Venkateswaran, a senior economist at OCBC bank.

In the ongoing trade war, it just makes sense for China to place emphasis on countries it has a good relationship with and South East Asia falls among those, she adds.

Alex Holmes from the Economist Intelligence Unit described Xi’s tour as a “popularity drive” that is “likely to include promises of greater aid and financing”.

“With China now facing 145% tariffs versus around 10% for the rest of Asia, the incentive for Chinese exports to divert through third countries will be stronger than ever,” he says.

But Venkateswaran expects that South East Asia will be “careful” going into talks with China, as there are fears of being increasingly targeted by the Trump administration.

As a result, she believes Xi’s visit may not result in concrete deals, although she sees “a path towards” greater cooperation, adding: “I think it’s just a tour that will establish relationships… and make sure that friends are friends.”

Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s arrival in Vietnam, he has detailed the goals of his visit to the South East Asian manufacturing hub.

Xi called for more regional cooperation, saying China and Vietnam were “friendly socialist neighbours sharing the same ideals and extensive strategic interests”.

Xi also repeats his view that the “trade war and tariff war will produce no winner, and protectionism will lead nowhere,” without mentioning the US.

He adds that China “should work together with the Global South to uphold the common interests of developing countries”.

The Global South is a term used to describe developing nations, that are typically located to the south of more industrialised countries.

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