Trade Wars and Trapdoors: Vietnam Caught Between Empires

By Prince Kapone | Weaponized Information | April 22, 2025

Vietnam isn’t smuggling goods—it’s trying to survive in a world where the U.S. writes the rules, breaks them, and then demands others pay the price.

According to Reuters, Vietnam has started cracking down on companies accused of relabeling Chinese goods to dodge U.S. tariffs. The empire calls it fraud. But in reality? It’s economic self-defense. Because when you’re stuck between two giants—one rising, one clinging to control—you do what you gotta do to keep the lights on and people fed.

The Empire’s Game: Heads They Win, Tails You Lose

Let’s cut the bullshit. The U.S. doesn’t care about “rules” or “fair trade.” It cares about control. It built this global trade system on sweatshops and subcontractors, then weaponized it the second China stopped playing second fiddle. The U.S. trade deficit with Vietnam hit $105 billion in 2023—making it America’s third-largest trading partner. Now Vietnam’s getting squeezed—not because it broke the rules, but because it got caught in the middle while the U.S. throws a tantrum over losing its grip.

Vietnam Walks the Razor’s Edge

Vietnam’s economy runs on exports. According to the World Bank, exports made up over 100% of GDP in 2022. It’s been sold as the success story of neoliberal globalization—”open for business,” low wages, cheap manufacturing. But that success came with strings. American markets. Chinese components. And now, when those two superpowers go to war over who gets to dominate the 21st century, it’s Vietnam that catches the blowback.

Relabeling Isn’t Fraud—It’s Survival

Vietnam imports over $110 billion in goods from China annually, including key inputs for electronics, textiles, and machinery. Many of those goods are assembled in Vietnam and re-exported. The Peterson Institute for International Economics noted Vietnam was the biggest beneficiary of U.S.-China tariff rerouting. These firms aren’t gaming the system—they’re adapting to it. The U.S. handed Vietnam this role—low-cost supplier for its bloated consumption. Now it’s punishing them for doing the job too well.

This Is Technofascism with Trade Routes

Trump’s trade war escalated under Biden, with tariffs still affecting over $300 billion in Chinese goods. Now, the Trump 2.0 regime has imosed even more extreme tariffs on all Chinese products, with some exceptions. Countries like Vietnam are being told: either help enforce this blockade, or lose market access. This isn’t policy—it’s economic warfare wrapped in a flag.

What Happens Next?

Vietnam’s leaders are being told to play ball or get burned. But at what cost? Do they continue bowing to a declining empire that offers instability and ultimatums? Or do they carve out a real path of non-alignment and economic independence—harder, but more dignified? As of now, Vietnam is deepening ties with China via the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signed in December 2023, but it’s still caught in Washington’s trap. The truth is, no country can stay neutral forever in a world being pulled apart by empire. But Vietnam’s people deserve better than being reduced to pawns in someone else’s trade war.