The US Trade Representative (USTR), in its report released on January 15 on findings in the Section 301 investigation of Vietnam’s acts, policies, and practices related to currency valuation, did not mention or recommend the imposition of tariff or any sanction measures on Vietnam’s exports, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said on January 16.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh talks on the phone
with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on January 7 on
bilateral economic and trade issues (Photo: VNA) 

The ministry informed the press on January 16 that the USTR’s report provided comprehensive information regarding the case, including the reasons and purposes of the investigation.  

The report did not mention or recommend imposing tariff or any sanction measures on Vietnam’s exports, the ministry said, noting that the efforts made at all levels, from Government leaders to officials of ministries, sectors, agencies, associations and businesses of both Vietnam and the US have brought about positive outcomes.

The ministry, as chair of the Vietnam section in the Vietnam-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council and the agency authorized by the Prime Minister to work with the US in handling the case, welcomed the conclusion of the USTR’s report.

The USTR’s decision has a positive meaning to bilateral trade, Vietnam’s business and investment environment and the multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said.

According to the Ministry, immediately after the report’s release, Myron Brilliant, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, announced that the US business community welcomed the news that the Trump Administration will not impose tariffs on goods from Vietnam.

“Trade actions are an inappropriate means by which to address currency valuation questions,” he said in a statement, adding that the business community strongly encourages the United States to foster a closer strategic and commercial partnership with Vietnam as that country grows in importance as a commercial market.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade stressed that Vietnam attaches importance to its economic and trade relations with the US, considering those relations an important pillar and a driver of the bilateral ties between Vietnam and the US.

In the time ahead, Vietnam will continue with efforts to open up the market, intensify policy dialogue through TIFA Council mechanisms and seriously implement bilateral cooperation agreements so as to produce substantial outcomes and comprehensively address the concerns of the US and Vietnam, thereby maintaining stable trade ties towards a sustainable and harmonious trade balance that benefit both sides.

 “The Ministry of Industry and Trade, as co-chair of the TIFA Council, along with Vietnamese ministries and sectors, is willing to talk with officials at all levels of the USTR and relevant agencies, including at ministerial or working levels, in any form, to address concerns and create specific progress in outstanding problems in economic and trade relations between the two countries, in a cooperative, goodwill and constructive spirit, so that the two sides can officially end the investigations,” the ministry’s representative said.