"Vietnam and APAC Rocked By Tariff Impacts, United Nations Says", 22 September 2025

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According to new data from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), shocks caused by tariffs are pummeling Southeast and East Asia with ferocity, rivaled narrowly in impact by South Asia and the Pacific...

Vietnam, America’s premier footwear supplier outside of China, could see one-fifth of its export volume evaporate because of the 20 percent tariffs it now faces...

Its own export data showed that exports fell 2 percent month-over-month in August, with shoes alone seeing a 5.5 percent decrease...

According to the UNDP, the potential hit to one-fifth of Vietnam’s export business is almost twice as high as the 9.7 percent average decrease being felt across other Southeast Asian production hubs...

And while the longtime target of the president’s ire—China—also faces new tariffs, they currently stand at just 10 percent while officials from Beijing and Washington work toward a long-term bilateral trade agreement. That pause on much higher 30 percent duties expires Nov. 10, and there are signs that it has given China time to adapt its strategy, allowing for export growth rather than the dwindling exports its neighbors have faced....

When considering that 58 percent of the country’s exports are destined for American shores, [Cambodia]’s exposure to tariff impacts is substantial. “In effect, Cambodia could lose more than half of its U.S.-oriented exports, translating into a contraction of over one-third of its total export sector,” the UNDP report said...

The social toll to the Asia-Pacific region could be “severe,” it added, as only 54 percent of its people have social protections, and 1.3 billion are employed informally, meaning there’s no safety net should they lose their jobs. UNDP wrote that the small enterprises that make up many export-led sectors are often “the first to fall” in the event of trade shakeups...

“For Asia-Pacific, one of the most trade-dependent regions, this turbulence is seismic. It is also a moment of choice for economic and social reform.”