The textile sector in Vietnam is of a small scale and unable to damage the US apparel suppliers, president of Vietnam Textile and Garment Corporation (Vinatex's) Le Quoc An said.
Talking to Lao Dong newspaper August 12, An affirmed that Vietnam could not flood the US market with low-cost textiles and apparel as doubted by two US senators Elizabeth Dole and Linsay Graham who therefore put a hold on a legislation to establish Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with Vietnam.
“Their arguments are totally wrong,” An said, adding that the Vietnamese garment and textile industry and its export value to the US is just one fortieth and one eighth compared to China’s.
Vietnam now holds only 3.8 per cent of the US apparel market, standing behind many other exporters such as India, Mexico, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Pakistan which do not suffer a quota imposed by the US government, he also said.
He also called for an investigation by the US to eliminate allegations about State subsidies for the garment and textile industry in Vietnam. “The Vietnamese government did not has plans to invest US$4 billion from its State budget on the industry, but to mobilize such capital from all sources, including foreign direct investment,” he said.
The US should not resort to such a groundless claim to delay the PNTR bill, he said.
The bill, which will benefit both countries, was delayed on August 8 by Republicans Elizabeth Dole and Lindsey Graham, who represent US textile interests in North Carolina and South Carolina states. They supported extension of the current import quotas on Vietnamese goods, a multiyear safeguard mechanism such as that with China, or provisions that would enable the United States to bring countervailing duty cases against Vietnam.
The holdup could be a serious problem for Vietnam’s entry to the World Trade Organization late this year and American businesses are losing money from a growing overseas market, observers said.
The US Senate Finance Committee on August 1 voted 18-0 to send the legislation granting Vietnam PNTR to the full Senate for a vote, but it would be delayed until late October due to US elections or even later if the two above senators did not withdraw their petition.
Labour
Vietnamese
