Vietnam Offers to Slash Tariffs to Avoid U.S. Levies, Boosting Apparel and Retail Stocks
Shares of major apparel and footwear companies surged Friday after President Donald Trump announced that Vietnam was willing to cut tariffs to zero in a bid to avoid steep new U.S. trade levies.
Nike jumped as much as 5.9%, while Lululemon gained 4%. Footwear brands On Holding and Skechers soared over 8%, recovering sharply from Thursday’s losses, which were triggered by Trump’s surprise move to slap a 46% tariff on Vietnamese imports. Vietnam has become a key manufacturing base for U.S. brands after Trump’s earlier tariffs on China.
In a social media post, Trump said he had a “very productive call” with Vietnamese President To Lam, who expressed willingness to eliminate tariffs entirely. The news triggered a rally across the retail and manufacturing space, including household appliance maker SharkNinja, which rebounded from a 13% drop to close up 8.4%.
Home goods retailers like RH and Wayfair also surged, with Wayfair briefly halted for volatility after swinging from a 19% drop to a 7.3% gain.
Vietnam’s swift response may influence other Southeast Asian nations like Indonesia and Cambodia to follow suit, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Poonam Goyal. “There’s no way, with the way it was yesterday, that these companies could’ve mitigated these rising costs,” Goyal said.
Retailers with deep ties to Vietnam, including Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Victoria’s Secret, also jumped more than 8%. Even European stocks like Adidas and JD Sports erased losses on the update.
Despite Friday’s rally, Nike shares remain down over 20% this year, and Lululemon is off more than 30%, underscoring continued investor caution.
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