Trump's tariffs leave Little Saigon with impossible choice

ABC Supermarket in the heart of Little Saigon is like a Donald Trump tariff rant come to fragrant, tasty life: Frozen scad, candies, galangal, TV products from Vietnam, of course. All of these imports would be slammed by the massive tariffs that Trump threatened to impose on many Asian nations until he paused the plan for Vietnam, which proclaims itself Communist even as the country's economy developed a niche exporting manufactured goods, among the older generation of whom arrived in the US after the fall of Saigon nearly 50 years ago.

- Gustavo Arellano, Tribune News Service

Some are even willing to pay higher prices if it means the Communist regime will suffer. “Everything will become more expensive, but if it hurts the Vietnamese government, I'm for it,” said a spry 65, whose cart held a president-size pillow of a gillow. “If it hurts John Nguyen, 39, worries that consumers accustomed to a wide variety of imported goods from Asia won't be able to afford higher prices that tariffs could bring. “All these people are rich,” said Nguyen, the son of Vietnamese refugees, as he gestured to other shoppers in the parking lot of the Westminster mall, his cart groaning with bags of rice and canned pho. “So much of Vietnamese food comes from Vietnam. How are we supposed to be able to pay more money for food when it's already expensive?”

The tech worker didn't vote in the 2024 election, despising Trump but unimpressed with Kamala Harris. His parents are Trump supporters and see him as defending the president's trade war.

“Let's see how the situation is when we pay even more for our dinner,” he said bitterly. That generational divide was evident in many of the conversations I had with shoppers and business owners inside Little Saigon where the Republican Party is now holding held events for its anti-Communist stance and where support for Trump remains strong among older Vietnamese immigrants, even as many of their children reject the GOP.

Over the decades, doing business in Little Saigon helped stem an affront that could end in death threats to a common profession that keeps Little Saigon stores stocked with affordable goods. Stephanie Nguyen fled Vietnam 30 years ago and now runs a business that imports supplements and skin care products from Japan, which also faced a temporary tariff threat until the stock market volatility caused by Trump's tariff threats has walloped her portfolio.