In 1993, President Clinton embarked on a policy of normalizing relations with Vietnam to promote Vietnam`s cooperation on issues of interest to the United States and promote Vietnam`s integration into the region and the world economy. The decision to continue the trade agreement was taken after Vietnam established a series of cooperations in the accounting of prisoners of war, the highest priority in our relations. U.S.-Vietnam trade figures are in line with Vietnam`s GDP per capita (see Chart 1)[12] As the Biden administration encourages multilateral trade cooperation in Southeast Asia, it is likely to continue President Donald Trump`s confrontational approach to China to counter the global economic influence of its „most serious competitor.“ Meanwhile, human rights concerns remain a challenge. Human rights monitors denounced Vietnam`s lack of progress on key issues, pointing to the „tightening of restrictions on freedom of expression, association, assembly, movement and religion“ over the past year. While the Trump White House has been content to keep human rights on the back burner, the Biden administration should put more emphasis on these issues. The Heads of State or Government in Hanoi will have to adapt to the increased surveillance that may result from this new reality. In the meantime, the Biden administration will have to take a fine line in rightly denouncing abuses, as the situation demands, while holding diplomatic talks on constructive tracks with its Vietnamese counterparts. This comprehensive partnership underscores the sustainability of the United States. Commitment to the Indo-Pacific and provides a mechanism to facilitate cooperation in areas such as political and diplomatic relations, trade and economic relations, defense and security, science and technology, education and training, environment and health, humanitarian aid/disaster relief, war heritage issues, the protection and promotion of human rights, people-to-people relations and culture, sport and tourism. The United States supports Vietnam`s professionalization of law enforcement, regional cross-border cooperation, and the implementation of international conventions and standards. Vietnam is a partner of non-proliferation regimes, including the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, and leverages the expertise, equipment and training available under the related Export Control and Border Security Program.
In 2016, the United States and Vietnam signed an agreement to intensify cooperation in the fields of law enforcement and the justice sector, and the two countries are working together to implement the agreement. The United States and Vietnam hold annual labour and human rights dialogues. In recent years, Vietnam has actively signed bilateral trade agreements with countries around the world. In addition, due to its membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnam has become a party to several free trade agreements signed by the regional trading bloc. Based on the agreement, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) then issued a formal ruling and decided that it would not take trade-restrictive measures such as countervailing duties against Vietnam. Another current sticking point arose from President Trump`s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the CPTPP`s predecessor, in 2017. President Biden`s team is reluctant to pursue free trade initiatives given the difficult policies of the Democratic faction. As a result, the new government has shown no enthusiasm for joining the CPTPP or seeking new free trade agreements (FTAs). But Washington needs to do something to show that it has a regional economic agenda. One option could be to seek a multilateral agreement on digital trade in the Indo-Pacific that would include Vietnam.
This could be based on the rules for this sector enshrined in the CPTPP, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the United States-Japan Agreement on Digital Trade. People-to-people relations between the United States and Vietnam have flourished. Nearly 30,000 Vietnamese are currently studying in the United States. The new Fulbright University Vietnam, which enrolled its first cohort in the fall of 2017, will help bring world-class independent education to Vietnam. More than 21,000 Vietnamese are members of the Southeast Asia Young Leaders Initiative. The United States and Vietnam signed an agreement with the Peace Corps in 2016. Once these trade agreements enter into force, they will allow Vietnam to use the reduced tariffs both within the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and with the EU and the US to attract exporting enterprises for production in Vietnam and export to partners outside ASEAN. The current depth and breadth of the U.S.-Vietnam partnership was not a foregone conclusion. It is the result of decades of hard work and perseverance on both sides. The positive trends in today`s relations can be attributed to joint efforts to resolve the legacy of the war, as well as the shared perception of threats to China. There are potential obstacles, including human rights concerns and the threat of secondary sanctions against Vietnam in connection with Russia`s arms purchase. But the U.S.-Vietnam partnership will remain important to the Biden administration`s vision of a „free, open, resilient, and inclusive“ Indo-Pacific region.
And there are steps the United States can take in the coming months to invest in this crucial partnership. Vietnam`s accession to these trade agreements will also ensure alignment with national standards ranging from workers` rights to environmental protection. The CPTPP and EVFTA require Vietnam to comply with International Labour Organization (ILO) standards. Ilo Chan Lee noted that this is an opportunity for Vietnam to modernize its labour laws and labour relations systems. Vietnam`s Ministry of Planning and Investment predicted that the CPTPP could increase Vietnam`s GDP by 1.3 percentage points by 2035, while the EVFTA could increase GDP by 15 percent. These trade agreements, as well as the free trade agreements already signed and to come, should ensure that Vietnam remains competitive in the short and medium term. There is a broad consensus that Vietnam has benefited economically from the US-China trade war, and this is expected to continue to flourish within the framework of the current US trade policy. With most U.S.
tariffs on Chinese goods remaining in place, foreign investors will be forced to look to other locations to relocate production – with Vietnam becoming an ideal China and a target in recent years. However, this shift in production is not only caused by the trade war, but includes factors such as geopolitics, rising labor costs in China, and the need to diversify input sources and supply chains in the midst of the pandemic. U.S.-Vietnam trade relations refer to the bilateral trade relations between the United States of America (USA) and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) from the 1990s to 2012. After more than two decades without an economic relationship since the end of the Vietnam War, the two governments restored their economic relations in the 1990s. [1] Bilateral trade between the United States and Vietnam grew slowly thereafter and developed rapidly after the signing of the bilateral trade agreement between the United States and Vietnam in December 2001. [2] Total bilateral trade revenue increased by 1200%, from $1.5 billion in 2001 to over $20 billion in 2011. [3] Bilateral trade relations continued to develop after the US granted Vietnam permanent status as a Normal Trade Relationship (PNTR) under Vietnam`s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007. [1] The United States. and Vietnam also concluded a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in 2007.
[4] Vietnam was the last 26th in 2011 with US$17.5 billion. the largest merchandise import partner of the United States and with US$3.7 billion in 2010, the 45th largest merchandise export market. [4] Vietnam and six other partners are now engaged in ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations with the United States. [6] The growth of bilateral trade has also been accompanied by problems and problems, in particular. B Anti-dumping procedures, workers` rights, the non-market economy, the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and Vietnam`s exchange rate policy. [1] On July 19, 2021, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) concluded an agreement with the United States on Vietnam`s monetary practices, in which Vietnam pledged not to intentionally participate in a competitive devaluation of the Vietnamese dong and to make its monetary policy and exchange rates more transparent. .