HANOI, Feb 26 — Average United States (US) import tariffs on Vietnamese goods have dropped to around 16 per cent from 21.6 per cent following a major shift in US trade policy that took effect at 00:00 (US time) on Tuesday (Feb 24), Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported, citing data compiled by Global Trade Alert.
The decline came after the US Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The administration of President Donald Trump replaced them with a 10 per cent additional tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act.
Despite the new surcharge, the combined effective duty on Vietnamese goods is still lower than under the previous regime.
Vietnam is among the countries seeing the most significant reductions. The US currently imports about US$136.1 billion worth of goods from Vietnam, making it one of Washington’s largest trading partners.
The change also reduced the global average effective tariff on imports into the US to about 11.6 per cent, down from 15.3 per cent previously.
Other economies recorded similar declines. Tariffs on Chinese goods fell from 36.8 per cent to 26.9 per cent, while India’s dropped from 22.3 per cent to below 14 per cent. Brazil and several Asian exporters also benefited, making them what analysts described as “temporary winners” of the adjustment.
The effective tariff reflects the real average duty paid on imports after exemptions and preferences, typically lower than nominal schedules.
