HANOI, June 5 — Vietnam’s foreign ministry said yesterday that the US Trade Representative’s conclusion that it had failed to curb trade in goods made with forced labour does not fully or accurately reflect Vietnam’s mitigation efforts.

Vietnam’s policy strictly prohibits any form of forced labour, and it complies with the regulations of the International Labour Organization, foreign ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang told a regular press conference in Hanoi.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration proposed tariffs of up to 12.5 per cent on imports from 60 countries, including Vietnam, after determining they had failed to curb trade in goods made with forced labour, an assertion that US trading partners have rejected.

The probe coincided with a surge in Vietnam’s exports to the US. The US trade deficit with Vietnam reached US$54.8 billion in the first three months of this year, second only to Taiwan and higher than the deficits with major exporters China and Mexico, US data showed.

The Trump administration has repeatedly said it wants to reduce trade deficits.

“Vietnam has been and will continue to exchange and work with the US in a constructive and cooperative manner to resolve existing disagreements, while always trying to protect legitimate interests of workers and businesses,” Hang said.

Vietnam is being targeted by the Trump administration for allegedly distorting trade with excess capacity, intellectual property violations and the use of goods from forced labour. — Reuters

HANOI, June 5 — Samsung plans to invest up to US$4 billion (RM16.1 billion) in a Vietnam chip-testing plant, according to company documents obtained by AFP today, as the South Korean giant ramps up spending on semiconductors to meet demand driven by artificial intelligence.

Spanning nearly 266,000 square metres in an industrial park north of Hanoi, the facility will include two factories — the first slated to begin partial operations in November 2027.

The second factory will commence operations in 2031, according to an investment registration document signed by authorities in Thai Nguyen province.

Samsung is Vietnam’s largest foreign corporate investor, having sunk more than US$23 billion into the Southeast Asian country, but this would be its first chip-testing facility there.

The AI boom is straining global memory chip supplies, as manufacturers prioritise chips for hyperscale data centres over less flashy chips used in everyday consumer electronics like phones and laptops.

The Vietnam facility will focus on legacy DRAM and NAND chips, the price of which have soared.

Samsung plans to invest nearly US$1.5 billion developing the facility and up to US$2.5 billion in future earnings from the project. It is expected to create around 3,750 jobs.

Samsung Electronics, one of the world’s biggest memory chipmakers, reported record earnings in the first quarter of 2026. — AFP