U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview on Wednesday that Vietnam is taking advantage of his country "worse than China" does. His statements came ahead of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan later this week.
In his interview with Fox Business Network, Trump called Vietnam "the single worst abuser of everybody," adding that the White House is now in talks with the Vietnamese government regarding trade issues.
"A lot of companies are moving to Vietnam, but Vietnam takes advantage of us even worse than China. So there's a very interesting situation going on there," the American chief noted, hinting that he may be ready to throw trade deficit claims against the country.
Ever since Trump's trade war against China kicked off, Vietnam has become a major beneficiary as both Chinese and American firms have been relocating to the Asian country. However, it appears that Trump is unhappy with the current bilateral trade figures between the U.S. and China's neighbor.
While Trump refused to answer a question directly asking if he would impose tariffs on Vietnam just as he did with China, some economists believe he is sending a warning to the Vietnamese government regarding trade.
The Guardian noted that in the same interview, Trump argued that nearly almost every country across the world is taking "tremendous advantage of the United States." He said part of his goals in showing a firm stance against China and other nations is to fix the current trading system that the U.S. shares with the rest of the world.
Aside from hinting on potential tariffs for Vietnam, Trump went on to hurl comments against Germany, stating that the European country is "delinquent" in its NATO budget deal with the U.S.
Probably the biggest takeaway from his interview was his mention of Japan. Multiple outlets noted that the U.S. president may be teasing the possibility of dropping the defense treaty his country shares with Japan for seven decades.
Trump blasted the island-country in the interview, noting that while the U.S. is required to protect Japan when it is attacked, the latter "doesn't have to help us at all." A top government spokesman clarified on Thursday that the two governments have not discussed the possibility of revising details under the defense agreement.
Spokesman Yoshihide Suga noted that the obligations of both countries under the treaty in question "are balanced." The White House has yet to comment on Suga's statements.
Trump is set to meet with several world leaders at this week's G20 Summit. It is unclear how his latest comments will impact the meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
