The Prime Minister of Vietnam, Le Minh Hung, met with United States Deputy US Trade Representative Ambassador Rick Switzer on Wednesday, using the opportunity to call for an early conclusion to a reciprocal Vietnam-United States trade agreement, according to Tuoi Tre.
The PM told the ambassador that Vietnam did not pursue policies creating excess production capacity, that it prohibits using forced labour, and enforces intellectual property protections, according to Tuoi Tre reporting.
For context, these claims stem from two 301 investigations announced in March into whether Vietnam, alongside a number of other countries, is overproducing goods outside of what the market can absorb, and whether there are sufficient border controls to prevent imports into Vietnam of goods made using forced labour.
As for intellectual property protections, this was raised last year, though resurfaced last month when the USTR labelled Vietnam, and Vietnam alone, a “Priority Country”, the most serious designation the USTR can use, in a 301 report into global intellectual property protections.
It’s interesting that negotiations on a US-Vietnam trade agreement began around this time last year —- just after the April “reciprocal” tariffs were announced — though since then the goal posts have moved a number of times, the USTR investigations / the IP report case in point.
That said, coming back to yesterday’s meeting, what has been reported locally is vague and does little to resolve uncertainty around how trade barriers for goods shipped from Vietnam to the United States might change moving forward.
Moreover, looking at the PM’s comments, it seems there may be some confusion as to exactly what the USTR’s concerns are.
On IP, it’s about enforcement and punishment — the US wants more severe penalties to deter offenders. As it stands, recently intensified efforts to stamp out IP infringements have addressed enforcement, but little has been said about how punishments might be strengthened.
On forced labour, the USTR is concerned about goods made with forced labour entering Vietnam, as opposed to goods made in Vietnam using forced labour.
All of that is to say, there wasn’t much in Wednesday’s meeting between these two men that would indicate how trade negotiations might be tracking. The PM’s comments, however, do give some insight into where Vietnamese negotiators believe the key pain points are.