Vietnam Trade Bill Yet Approved

The legislation to normalize trade relations with Vietnam was failed Monday in the US House of Representatives, four days prior to President George W. Bush’s first visit to the US’s former war foe for the Asia-Pacific summit.

 

The objection of the Vietnam’s trade bill is attributed to worries raised by US lawmakers about the job loss, but another vote is expected Wednesday and this time they will need only a majority to get it passed unlike Monday’s voting which required the approval of two-thirds in the House.

 

The measure received 228 votes in favor, and 32 short of what was needed. There were 161 votes against it.

 

However, Ways and Means Committee aides said Republicans would bring the measure up again Wednesday under normal procedures that will require only a majority for passage. The proposal gained 228 votes, 10 more than the 218 majority that would be needed under the normal process.

 

President Bush is now hoping to gain approval of the measure before he arrives in Hanoi later this week for the Asia-Pacific summit and meets with Hanoi leaders.

 

The surprise House vote came out just several hours after Washington removed Vietnam from a list of those said to be severe violators of religious freedoms, or CPC.

 

Obstacles in the Senate still remain, where the Bush administration has had to offer textile-state senators assurances that it will impose penalty tariffs on Vietnamese textile products if the country is found to be selling those products at unfairly low prices.

 

Meanwhile, US retailers assured that these anti-dumping duties will not be used arbitrarily to keep Vietnamese products off U.S. store shelves.

 

Speaking with local media, Chairman of the US AmCham, David Knapp regretted the House vote because earlier US businesses did hope President Bush will bestow Hanoi with PNTR, noting AmCham will call on US businesses to urge the approval of the trade bill with Vietnam.

 

Under terms of its membership in the Geneva-based World Trade Organization, Vietnam will have to reduce its tariffs on American and other foreign goods to 15 per cent or less, which would cover 94 per cent of US manufactured goods and 75 per cent of U.S. farm goods.

 

Admitted last week into the WTO club, the 150th member, Vietnam also agreed to open telecommunications, financial services and energy to competition by American and other foreign companies.

 

US business executives who are anxious to get into one of the fastest growing markets in Southeast Asia heavily supported the Vietnam trade bill, seeing it as the latest milestone in a two-decade effort to normalize relations since the Vietnam War ended.

 

However, opponents cited this gap and America’s soaring trade deficit, which is on track to set a record close to US$781 billion (€608.7 billion) this year, as reasons to oppose granting normal trade status to Vietnam.

 

They also warned that the new measure, by lowering barriers to Vietnamese goods further, will put more American workers in jeopardy to low-wage foreign competition. Nearly three million US manufacturing jobs have been lost since Bush took office in 2001.

 

“Haven’s we lost enough jobs in this country?” asked Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, noting “We have close to an $800 billion trade deficit, and this bill just keeps going in the same direction.”

 

One of the major benefits to Vietnam will be the lift of US quotas to be imposed on Vietnamese textiles and clothing that the Southeast Asian country can ship to the United States.

 

Through September, US exports to Vietnam have totaled $724 million while Vietnamese shipments to the United States totaled $6.4 billion, giving the United States a $5.7 billion trade deficit with Vietnam.