Tesla and Samsung push back as Washington weighs new tariffs on Vietnam: the 29 November piracy probe deadline explained

Will the US put new tariffs on Vietnam? It may decide by the end of November. The Trump administration has set a 29 November deadline to conclude a trade investigation, launched in May, into Vietnam's alleged intellectual property violations, according to Reuters reporting published by Free Malaysia Today. Companies with big factories in Vietnam, led by Tesla and Samsung, are urging Washington not to add new duties.

The stakes are enormous. Vietnam's exports to the US surged 42 percent in the first eight months of this year, making it the US trading partner with the largest goods surplus, ahead of China and Mexico. Vietnam's total trade has just crossed 1 trillion dollars for the first time. Any new tariff would hit the phones, laptops, shoes and furniture that flow from Vietnamese factories to American shoppers, and the multinationals that make them.

What the US is investigating

The US has accused Vietnam of "a persistent failure to resolve long standing concerns about IP protection and enforcement". A separate probe into alleged excess capacity is also under way, and Vietnam has urged Washington to conduct its investigations objectively. It is not clear whether any tariffs linked to IP violations would be general or limited to specific sectors.

Copyright holders have made their case loudly. The Business Software Alliance, whose members include Microsoft, Oracle and IBM, said about three quarters of software installed on personal computers in Vietnam was unlicensed, citing a 2017 survey, and criticised "inadequate enforcement". The Motion Picture Association said Vietnam was a major hub for online piracy, hosting websites distributing stolen film and television content that drew more than 12.5 billion visits worldwide last year.

Software, film and music groups urged Washington to secure concrete commitments from Vietnam to tackle piracy. For Hanoi, the challenge is that enforcement against piracy sites and unlicensed software is slow work, while a tariff decision could arrive within weeks.

Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974 allows the US Trade Representative to respond to foreign practices it judges unreasonable or discriminatory, including through tariffs. It was the main legal tool used against China in 2018 and 2019, and it does not depend on the emergency powers the Supreme Court ruled against, which makes it more durable.

Why Tesla and Samsung oppose new tariffs

Electric carmaker Tesla urged the US Trade Representative to "take into account the supply chain needs of American manufacturers", saying some advanced components and precision manufacturing equipment cannot be sourced domestically despite major investments in US production. Tesla's comments were submitted on 2 July.

Samsung's US unit made a similar argument, noting that Vietnam produces a significant share of Samsung's smartphones and network equipment for the US market. The South Korean company is Vietnam's largest foreign investor, having invested about 25 billion dollars there. Retail groups and trade associations representing footwear, apparel and consumer goods such as bicycles and video game consoles also opposed additional tariffs.

On the other side, groups representing US producers of steel, seafood, plywood, solar panels and wood products accused Vietnam of unfair practices and called for new tariffs. The split reflects a familiar pattern: American companies that make goods in Vietnam want low tariffs, while those competing with Vietnamese imports want protection.

The probe is about piracy, but the tariff would land on phones, shoes and solar panels. That is why Tesla and Samsung are in the room.

Their arguments carry weight because these companies are among the biggest investors in Vietnam's export economy. Samsung's factories alone make Vietnam one of the world's largest smartphone exporters, and a tariff on those phones would raise costs for American consumers as much as for the Korean company.

How Vietnam got here: from 20 percent to 12.5 percent

Vietnam, long accused of being a transit hub for Chinese goods, faced 20 percent tariffs after President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" announcement, which were later struck down by the Supreme Court. The US currently levies a general 12.5 percent tariff on Vietnamese goods, imposed in July after an investigation into alleged failures to prevent imports of goods made with forced labour.

Many economists have said the administration's goal is to reimpose at least the same level of tariffs that the Supreme Court abolished, using other legal tools such as Section 301, which allows tariffs in response to unfair trade practices. We explained how Washington has rebuilt its tariff wall in our report on the Section 301 tariff wall and its global impact.

Vietnam's trade surplus with the US makes it a natural target. Its position rose from fourth largest at the end of 2025 to the largest in the first eight months of 2026. For Washington, that number is politically sensitive, regardless of the fact that much of the value comes from American, Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese companies producing in Vietnam.

Vietnam's trade boom raises the stakes

Vietnam's foreign trade in goods exceeded 1 trillion dollars this year for the first time, passing the full year 2025 total of 930 billion dollars with two months to spare, according to VnExpress, citing customs data. Exports reached 493 billion dollars, up 27.2 percent, while imports rose 37.6 percent to nearly 508 billion dollars. Foreign owned companies accounted for 778 billion dollars of the total. The sectors most exposed to new US tariffs include:

• Computers, electronics and components
• Phones and phone components
• Machinery and equipment
• Footwear and apparel
• Wood products, furniture and solar panels

Hanoi is trying to reduce its dependence on any one market. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is drafting a strategy to ensure no single market accounts for more than 25 percent of exports by 2030. Exports to free trade partners such as Mexico, South Korea, Japan and Canada rose sharply this year, but the US remains one of its two largest trading partners alongside China.

What happens next

The key date is 29 November. The US could impose new tariffs, limit them to specific sectors, delay a decision, or accept commitments from Vietnam on IP enforcement. Hanoi has strong incentives to offer concessions on piracy and software licensing before the deadline.

For investors and companies, the outcome matters for Vietnam's 10 percent growth target and for global supply chains that moved to Vietnam to diversify away from China. New tariffs would raise costs for multinationals and could slow fresh investment, while a deal would reinforce Vietnam's position as one of Asia's leading manufacturing hubs.

Vietnam's partners will be watching closely. A tariff on Vietnam over intellectual property would set a precedent that could be applied to other Southeast Asian exporters with large US surpluses, from Thailand to Malaysia, at a time when the region is trying to attract supply chains leaving China.

The 29 November deadline puts Vietnam's booming exports on the line over a dispute about software and film piracy. Tesla, Samsung and US retailers are lobbying against new tariffs, while American steel, seafood and solar producers want them. Whatever Washington decides will shape where global manufacturers build next.