Accessing the Post-WTO Accession Vietnam Market Place:

How the U.S. Department of Commerce Can Help Address Your Trade Barriers

The implementation of the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) in December 2001 opened up a new era for U.S. companies doing business in Vietnam.  Since then, bilateral trade has skyrocketed from $1.5 billion in 2001 to $9.7 billion in 2006, when Vietnamese exports to the United States were almost 8 times greater than U.S. exports to Vietnam. Vietnam’s accession to the WTO in January this year, along with its healthy economic growth, at 7.8% in 2006, is expected to spur trade growth at an even faster clip.  Such rapid growth can result in trade issues. This article highlights U.S. Department of Commerce resources that can help address problems that are limiting your company's ability to sell or invest in Vietnam.

The U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration's (ITA) mission is to create market opportunity for U.S. workers and firms by promoting international trade, opening foreign markets, ensuring compliance with international trade laws and agreements, and supporting U.S. commercial interests at home and abroad.  

Trade Compliance Center  

Within ITA's Market Access and Compliance (MAC) unit is the Trade Compliance Center (TCC), which administers the Commerce Trade Agreements Compliance Program.  This program ensures that foreign countries's trade agreement obligations to the United States are properly monitored, alleged compliance violations are addressed promptly, and U.S. exporters are aware of the rights created by these trade agreements.  Compliance promotes U.S. exports, supports U.S. jobs, maintains confidence in our trade agreements, and helps ensure a level international playing field. 

Through the Commerce Trade Agreements Compliance Program, MAC staff can help U.S. exporters receive the full benefits of the BTA, one agreement among over 270 U.S. trade agreements that help open or maintain open markets for U.S. goods and services.  When it joined the WTO earlier this year, Vietnam made a broad range of market access commitments that created more potential opportunities for U.S. companies than ever before.  Implementation of all these commitments can be uneven as Vietnam works to reform its laws and regulations to conform with its numerous international obligations. 

We know that nearly 97 percent of all U.S. exporters are small or medium-sized businesses and we are geared toward serving this important segment of the economy. We are committed to working with the Vietnamese authorities to ensure that U.S. businesses like yours are able to take advantage of all the rights that the U.S. government has negotiated with the Government of Vietnam, as well as those gained as a result of Vietnam WTO accession.  

Some typical trade barriers that U.S. companies encounter include:  tariffs and customs barriers; standards, testing, labeling, and certification problems; excessive government testing and licensing fees; intellectual property rights protection and enforcement; lack of government transparency; and discriminatory government procurement contract barriers, etc.

For example:

-  Is your product facing a discriminatory tariff or tax in Vietnam?

-  Is your product being kept out of Vietnam's market because of some new overly trade-restrictive or discriminatory product standard requirement?

- Is Vietnamese customs using improper methods to value the import of your product into Vietnam?

- Are you able to obtain information about government regulations that may affect trade in your products?

- Does a government regulation or testing requirement apply only to foreign companies?

 Upon receiving a complaint and following preliminary evaluation to see if there is an identifiable obligation of BTA or WTO provisions that may apply, a team of DOC experts convenes to further analyze the problem and develop a compliance strategy.  All appropriate U.S. government interagency resources are brought into the process to help convince the Vietnamese government to comply with its obligations, or otherwise modify discriminatory practices and resolve the problem.  

USEAC clients and other companies doing business with Vietnam have a variety of ways to report a trade barrier.  You can work through your USEAC representative to raise your issue.  One of the most convenient way is on-line at www.trade.gov/tcc.  You can also e-mail the TCC at tcc@mail.doc.gov.  For personalized assistance, you can also contact the MAC Country Desk Officer for Vietnam, Mr. Hong-Phong Pho at hong-phong_pho@ita.doc.gov in Washington, D.C.  

The Trade Compliance Center (TCC) website at http://www.trade.gov/tcc provides many tools to assist you.  Use the trade complaint hotline to contact them about your problems, or call them at 202-482-1191.  The website has links to Export Guides, the searchable texts of more than 270 U.S. trade agreements (including the BTA), Export Alert (an early warning system for foreign government technical regulations), and a free weekly e‑mail called "What's New" with news on U.S. and foreign government practices and other developments related to access to foreign markets.  

Other Commerce Programs  

Even if your issue does not match up clearly with a BTA or a WTO provision, you can still obtain U.S. government support from ITA offices.  The Trade Information Center (TIC) staff provides practical answers to exporters technical questions at 1-800-USA-TRADE.  The Trade Advocacy Center (TAC), at 202-482-3896 in Washington, DC, coordinates U.S. Government resources and authority on behalf of U.S. business interests competing against foreign firms for specific international contracts or other U.S. export opportunities.