Vietnam's government said on Thursday it would set up a task force and other Southeast Asian nations said they plan to seek talks with Washington as they reel from being hit with some of U.S. President Donald Trump's heftiest tariffs.

President Donald Trump imposed 54% tariffs on all Chinese imports into the United States Wednesday as part of his sweeping “Liberation Day” reset of American trade global policy.

China vowed "countermeasures" to Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on Thursday but elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region US allies were still scrambling for last-ditch talks to mitigate the levies that will hit Asia's manufacturing powerhouses hard.