HANOI — European leaders are planning visits to Vietnam in coming months to strengthen ties with the Southeast Asian nation, officials said, amid tensions with Washington that could impact their exports to the United States.

Former US President Joseph Biden pushed hard to boost US influence in the former foe, considering the country a key partner in his strategy to contain China, but bilateral relations may weaken if his successor Donald Trump imposes duties on Hanoi, which is a potential target of his threatened reciprocal tariffs due to its large trade surplus.

Amid this growing uncertainty, European countries are intensifying their contacts with Vietnam, with the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and France’s President Emmanuel Macron both planning visits in the next months, European officials and diplomats said, noting the trips have long been planned and are not yet finalized.

“The tide of tariffs and export controls is rising…We want to create new opportunities to trade and invest with trusted partners,” Ms. Von der Leyen told top officials from Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN in a video message when they were gathered last week in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi.

Mr. Macron could travel to Vietnam in late May, with the aim of further boosting ties with the former colony after Paris formally elevated diplomatic relations last year, while Ms. Von der Leyen could visit earlier with the goal of formally upgrading ties, a senior EU official said, adding EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic may precede them in April.

Mr. Macron’s office declined to comment. A spokesman for the European Commission could not confirm any official visit at this stage. Vietnam’s Foreign ministry did not reply to requests for comment.

FROM RAILWAYS TO AID
The European Union (EU) imported $52 billion worth of goods from Vietnam last year, less than half of US imports but still Vietnam’s third export market thanks also to an existing free trade deal.

US manufacturers in Vietnam, whose business relies on exports to the US more than their European rivals, expect cuts in their workforce if Mr. Trump imposes tariffs, a survey found.

That scenario, despite being the result of what the EU official described as a “catastrophic” shift in global trade, could however lead to more Vietnamese exports to the EU and may in turn facilitate investments in Vietnam by European companies, as they might access redundant talent more easily, he said.

That comes as Vietnam wants to diversify military supplies and boost public spending on infrastructure, including a major railway project, with European companies racing to win contracts.

On development policy, Europe is already working to take on the US mantle after Mr. Trump froze foreign aid.

Belgium is setting up a fund that would contribute to restart the temporarily suspended recovery of areas contaminated with agent orange sprayed by US forces during the Vietnam War, the country’s ambassador to Vietnam Karl Van den Bossche said, noting the plan was to turn the reclaimed land into profitable industrial zones. — Reuters

LONDON — Rates of obesity and overweight are spiraling due to a “monumental societal failure” to tackle the problem, with more than half of adults and almost a third of children and young people set to be affected by 2050, according to a new study.

That represents more than 3.8 billion adults and 746 million children and adolescents, research published in The Lancet said.

Obesity is associated with an increased risk of serious health problems like diabetes, some cancers, and heart disease.

“The unprecedented global epidemic of overweight and obesity is a profound tragedy and a monumental social failure,” said lead author Professor Emmanuela Gakidou from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in the US.

The team, part of the Global Burden of Disease Study BMI Collaborators, used data from 204 countries and territories to come up with their estimates and project what could happen in future without action.

Rates of overweight and obesity have already more than doubled over the past three decades, with more than 2.1 billion adults and 493 million young people aged 5-24 years affected as of 2021, they said.

While the reasons for obesity were complex, governments should use the estimates to focus on how to help populations most at risk, researchers said, particularly around improving access to healthy diets.

The study, funded by the Gates Foundation, had limitations, including data gaps and the use of body mass index as a marker. It also did not consider the potential impact of obesity drugs, which have seen huge demand in richer countries where they are available, the researchers said.

The picture varies globally, but the researchers said an accelerated rise in obesity among young people and the rise in low- and middle-income countries where health systems cannot cope with the coming disease burden were particularly worrying.

That includes a projected 250% increase in rates of overweight and obesity in sub-Saharan Africa. The rise, to 522 million adults and 200 million children and young people, is driven partly by population growth.

A separate study published on Monday, the World Obesity Atlas from the World Obesity Federation, also raised this issue.

“The most affected regions are developing countries,” said Simon Barquera, president of the Federation.

The Obesity Atlas suggested that 79% of adults and 88% of children with obesity and overweight will be living in low- and middle-income countries by 2035, and only 7% of all countries have adequate health systems in place to deal with this.

“It’s really one of the main public health challenges around the world,” Mr. Barquera added. — Reuters