HANOI: France and Vietnam are set to sign dozens of deals on Monday (May 26) when French President Emmanuel Macron meets Vietnamese leaders in Hanoi as he seeks to increase France’s influence in the former colony, which faces threats of high United States tariffs.
In his first formal visit to the country, and the first for a French president in nearly a decade, Macron will be accompanied by more than a dozen business executives, said an official with knowledge of the matter, and is expected to oversee the signing of possibly 30 agreements while trying to boost cooperation in multiple sectors, including aviation, nuclear energy, railways, renewables, research, satellites and defence.
Macron’s long-planned trip to Vietnam, the first leg of a larger Southeast Asian tour including Indonesia and Singapore, comes on the heels of US President Donald Trump’s threats on Friday to impose 50 per cent duties on European Union goods from June, critically escalating trade tensions with the 27-country bloc.
As export-dependent Vietnam is also under pressure from Washington to buy more American goods to avoid 46 per cent duties, European officials told the country before Macron’s visit to be careful in its concessions to the White House, two officials based in Vietnam with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.
In talks with the US, “Vietnam should make sure not to make decisions at the expense of European interests”, one of the officials said, noting Vietnamese leaders had been told this could jeopardise close relations with the EU, which has a free trade deal with Vietnam and is a major buyer of its goods.
It is not clear whether Macron will emphasise that message on Monday, as that may depend on the deals France will strike.
