China’s efforts to deepen economic ties with Vietnam was likely part of a plan to “screw” the US, American President Donald Trump suggested on Monday while discussing tariffs and possible exemptions for automobiles and auto parts. “I don’t blame China. I don’t blame Vietnam. I don’t. I see they’re meeting today. Is that wonderful? That’s a lovely meeting … like trying to figure out, how do we screw the United States of America?” he told reporters in the Oval Office, claiming his predecessor Joe Biden had lost “trillions of dollars” in trade to China. “I don’t blame President Xi,” he said in the Oval Office during a joint news briefing with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. “I like him. He likes me. I mean, you know, who knows?” China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chinese President Xi Jinping has not spoken with his US counterpart since Trump imposed an earlier level of tariffs on China in February. The two last spoke by telephone in January. Last week, after raising US tariffs on imports from China to 145 per cent, Trump expressed his desire to negotiate a deal, with the White House saying he was waiting for a call from Beijing. China had retaliated by raising tariffs on US imports to 125 per cent. As of Monday, there was no indication that any call had been made or was in the works. As the world’s two largest economies remain locked in a tariff showdown, Xi has embarked this week on a three-nation Southeast Asia tour, starting in Hanoi and including Malaysia and Cambodia, to present China as a reliable and stable trading partner. On Monday, he met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and To Lam, the nation’s Communist Party general secretary. While Trump raised tariffs on China and implemented a blanket 10 per cent tariff on all US trading partners, he granted a 90-day pause before imposing higher tariffs on countries that have a trade surplus with the US, including Vietnam. According to the US, Hanoi is now negotiating with Washington over the 46 per cent tariff rate Trump has announced for the nation. As Xi met with Chinh, Vietnamese state media reported, China and Vietnam signed over 40 deals, without offering any details. In an op-ed published in Nhandan, the newspaper of Vietnam’s Communist Party, Xi called on the two nations to “strengthen cooperation in production and supply chains”. China is Vietnam’s biggest trading partner, with trade between the two nations jumping 14.6 per cent in 2024 from the previous year, according to Chinese customs data. Moreover, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce, Chinese companies invested nearly US$2 billion in Vietnam in the first 8 months of 2024. Trump’s tariffs in his first term – including the 25 per cent levy imposed on certain Chinese imports in 2018 – marked a deliberate push to decouple US supply chains from China, encouraging companies to relocate operations to other parts of Asia. Countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia emerged as key re-routing hubs for firms looking to avoid rising costs. Major manufacturers such as Foxconn, which produces components for Apple iPhones, began shifting some operations to Southeast Asia in direct response to the tariff pressure. Now, Cambodia is facing 49 per cent tariffs and Malaysia is looking at a 24 per cent levy. However, on Monday, Trump indicated he would grant some exemptions – potentially for sectors like automobiles and electronics – while also suggesting that new tariffs on pharmaceuticals produced outside the US could be announced in the “not too distant future”. “I don’t change my mind, but I’m flexible”, he said, adding there “may be things coming up”. Trump said that he didn’t “want to hurt anybody” and that he had recently spoken with and helped Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook. On Friday, Trump granted a temporary tariff exemption to electronic devices, a sector with supply chains deeply rooted in Asia. Trump also floated the prospect of tariff exemptions for auto parts made in “Canada, Mexico and other places”, saying that “car companies” needed a “little bit of time” to make their products in the US. US automakers have integrated facilities in both Mexico and Canada. Trump has imposed a 25 per cent tariff on fully assembled imported vehicles, with additional duties on auto parts set to kick in by May 3.