GENEVA — After 11 years of difficult talks, Vietnam on Thursday completed the process to enter the World Trade Organization and become a full partner in global commerce, but its trade status with the U.S. remains unsettled.
The next step is for the WTO General Council to green-light the agreement in a special session slated for Nov. 7. Vietnam would become the 150th member of the WTO 30 days after its National Assembly ratifies the accession package. Sources expect this to occur in December and Vietnam to become a full member in January.
As a WTO member, the communist nation, with one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies, would open its markets to foreign goods and services and be protected from other nations blocking imports that might have an adverse effect on domestic producers.
Vietnam’s trade minister, Troung Dinh Tuyen, said his nation is eager to ensure that the new status for his country includes “a good,” permanent normal trade relationship with the U.S., which means preferential treatment on tariffs and the elimination of quotas. “The normal logic is that we have WTO membership, and then there should be PNTR” with the U.S., he said.
However, concerns in the Bush administration and in Congress that Vietnam will flood the U.S. with low-priced apparel and textile imports might result in “discriminatory” treatment, Troung said. The White House has reserved the right to bring antidumping cases against Vietnam in the permanent normal trade relations legislation pending in Congress. This stipulation is not part of any other PNTR agreement the U.S. has with other countries, Troung said. When China joined the WTO in 2001, a safeguard quota system was included to guard against surges.
“It’s not yet a safeguard, only a monitoring system, but if it’s only for Vietnam, we can’t agree to such a system,” he said.
Last year, Vietnam’s apparel exports totaled $39 billion, which included more than $5 billion in shipments to the U.S.
The antidumping plan would affect how Vietnam treats U.S. imports if it is included in the PNTR legislation, he said.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, commenting on Troung’s remarks, said, “This is a unique situation of monitoring that is specific to Vietnam” because of the concerns raised in Congress, mainly because Vietnam is a nonmarket economy with hefty government subsidies.
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The U.S. is only committing to look “for unfair trade in the face of dumping of textiles and apparel. It’s a self-initiating process,” said the spokeswoman, adding that with Vietnam’s entry into the WTO, there will be an overall expansion in trade that will benefit both countries.
A vote on PNTR in Congress would come in late November or early next year.