Fifty years after the war, Vietnam faces a new US threat: tariffs

The South East Asian country is on a path to prosperity. The US-China trade war could change that.

Watch LiveBritish Broadcasting CorporationHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingAudioPodcastsRadioAudio FAQsVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveWeatherNewslettersWatch LiveFifty years after the war, Vietnam faces a new US threat - tariffs3 days agoShareSaveRupert Wingfield-HayesReporting fromHo Chi Minh CityShareSaveBBC/ Lulu LuoTung Linh, a 20-year-old Vietnamese college student, says she is excited for Vietnam's futureOn a searing afternoon in Vietnam, Tung Linh declared she "basically knows nothing" about the bloody, decades-long war that pitted her country's Communist-run North against the United States-backed South.

"My grandparents fought in the war and because of that today we can look at the sky and see an airplane and we don't feel scared, like they did," says the 20-year-old college student.

Stuck to her right cheek was a little yellow star on a red rectangle - the Vietnamese flag. Like her, Ho Chi Minh City, where she lived, was gearing up to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, when the Communists triumphed.

Today's Vietnam is a remarkably different country than the one American troops withdrew from in defeat – it's enterprising, it's growing fast and it's getting richer.

Its authoritarian Communist leadership has embraced capitalism. They aspire to follow in China's footsteps, and have ploughed money and effort into becoming a reliable manufacturing hub, even an alternative to China.