U.S. Agencies Proposed to Treat Vietnamese Commodities Fairly

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade, Vu Huy Hoang, has suggested the U.S. Trade Representative Ronald Kirk and other U.S. agencies to fairly mull over anti-dumping lawsuits against some Vietnamese products such as tra and basa fish and plastic bags in the coming time.

 

The minister made the statement at a ministerial meeting of the Vietnam-U.S. Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council in Singapore on July 22 on the occasion of the two-day APEC trade ministerial meeting opened on July 21.

 

Mr Hoang also asked the U.S. agencies to not stick non-economic issues to bilateral trade ties and prevent protectionism measures from hindering bilateral economic-trade activities.

 

At the meeting, the minister also highlighted the importance of the U.S. market for some Vietnamese key exports like shrimp, apparel, tra and basa fish, and fruits.

 

For his part, Ronald Kirk highly appreciated the Vietnamese government’s efforts on overcoming the global economic downturn’s impacts.

 

He hoped that the two nations would boost negotiations for the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) in order to entice more US firms to do business in Vietnam in the coming years.

 

Mr Kirk also affirmed that the U.S. government would coordinate with Vietnam to handle trade barriers in a bid to further open the U.S. market to Vietnamese products.

 

Trade between Vietnam and the U.S. was estimated at US$6.2 billion in the first six months of this year, said the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, adding that the U.S. investment in Vietnam reached nearly US$5 billion during the period. (The People, Vietnam Banking Times)