Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and China's Premier Li Qiang have agreed to boost trade and investment ties between the two countries during a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brazil,

Vietnam, an export powerhouse that last year had the world’s third-biggest trade surplus with the US, is trying to navigate Washington’s demands while keeping good relations with Beijing, its biggest trading partner.

Its new deal with Vietnam and its fresh tariff threats issued to many other countries seem designed to reduce China’s role in their supply chain. Countries that had hoped to stay out of the new cold war now fear they are being forced to pick a side. To appease the world’s biggest market, they must anger the world’s biggest trader.