Laos braces for blow from US trade tariff

Country is a hub of the garment industry

- BEATRICE SIVIERO

Hawking clothes outside the garment factory where her daughter toils inside, a Laos vendor weighs US President Donald Trump's threat of trade tariffs that may soon snarl both their livelihoods.

"I just live day by day. For now, I still have my business, and the factory is operating as usual," she told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity in the capital Vientiane.

"I'm not too worried about my daughter's job yet," she added. Then again, she says: "I don't know anything about what the US will decide."

Landlocked Laos - a country of only eight million has a gloomy outlook as it counts down to a Friday deadline when Trump says a 40% levy will kick in unless a trade deal is sealed.

The rate is among the highest Trump has touted in his global tariff blitz, which has yielded a handful of deals with countries including Britain, Japan and Vietnam but left dozens of others scrambling for a pact.

Laos has limited exports, little leverage and supply chains deeply entwined with US trade rival China.

The United States had a trade deficit of more than $760 million with Laos last year, singling it out for steep tolls alongside other nations Trump sees as imbalanced business partners.