France's President Emmanuel Macron and Vietnam's President Luong Cuong meet at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, on Monday, May 26, 2025. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
HANOI (Reuters): France and Vietnam signed a deal on Monday for 20 Airbus planes, as well as defence and space pacts, as President Emmanuel Macron visited Hanoi seeking to boost France's influence in its former colony, grappling with threats of crippling US tariffs.
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 Friday to impose 50% duties on European Union goods from June 1, fuelling tensions with the 27-country bloc, though he later delayed that deadline to July 9.
