For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 8, 2001
Fact Sheet: Background on the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement
Background on the
U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement
"The growth of the world economy depends on world trade. The
growth of world trade depends on American leadership. And
America will lead -- toward freer trade, toward wider and more lasting
prosperity for ourselves and for the world."
President George W. Bush
May 29, 2001
Vietnam is one of six countries with whom the United States does not
now have normal trade relations, meaning that the lower tariff rates
the United States applies to imports from nearly every other country
are not applied to imports from Vietnam.
Under U.S. law, two conditions must be met in order for Vietnam to
receive Normal Trade Relations ("NTR") status: (1) Vietnam must sign,
and Congress must approve, a bilateral commercial agreement; and (2)
the President must either find that Vietnam is in compliance with
certain freedom of emigration requirements (commonly referred to as the
"Jackson-Vanik" amendment) or annually "waive" those requirements,
thus indicating that Vietnam is making sufficient progress on this
issue.
In July 2000, the United States and Vietnam signed a bilateral trade
agreement that fulfills the first condition necessary to give Vietnam
NTR status. Negotiations on the agreement began in
1996. The agreement represents an important milestone in the
decade-long normalization of U.S.-Vietnam relations begun in the 1990s
under former President Bush.
Under legislation dating from 1975, trade agreements with countries
like Vietnam are subject to expedited Congressional
review. Under this procedure, Congress considers whether to
approve a joint resolution, the wording of which is set out in law and
may not be amended. A maximum of 45 legislative days is
allotted for committee review of the resolution and both houses of
Congress must vote on the resolution within 15 legislative days
thereafter.
Vietnam has received annual waivers of "Jackson-Vanik" requirements
since 1998. A waiver makes Vietnam eligible for benefits
provided by the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the
Export-Import Bank. If Congress approves the bilateral trade
agreement, Vietnam will also be eligible for NTR status, subject to
renewal each year.
Under the trade agreement, Vietnam has committed to opening its market
to U.S. goods, services, and investment and to moving toward adoption
of World Trade Organization and other international trade and
investment norms. The agreement covers six major areas:
market access for industrial and agricultural goods, protection of
intellectual property, market access for services, investment
protection, business facilitation, and transparency.
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