France, Vietnam sign Airbus, satellite deals as Macron visits Hanoi

France and Vietnam signed a deal on May 26 for 20 Airbus planes, among other pacts, as President Emmanuel Macron visited Hanoi, seeking to boost France's influence in its former colony grappling with threats of crippling US tariffs.

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Mr Macron's first formal visit to Vietnam, the first by a French president in nearly a decade, follows US President Donald Trump's threats on May 23 of 50 per cent duties on EU goods from June that sharply fuelled tension with the 27-nation bloc.

Export-dependent Vietnam, under pressure from Washington to buy more American goods, has made pledges in trade talks to avert 46 per cent tariffs that could impair its growth, fanning European concerns about deals at the region's expense.

Deals signed during Mr Macron's visit covered the plane purchase, cooperation on nuclear energy, railways, Airbus earth-observation satellites and Sanofi vaccines, a list of documents seen by Reuters showed, confirming an earlier report.

In statements to the press with no questions allowed, Mr Macron reiterated France's support of freedom of navigation, an issue dear to Vietnam as it often clashes with Beijing over contested boundaries in the South China Sea.