NCTO opposes free trade negotiations with Vietnam
06/03/2009
Cass Johnson, president of NCTO, said: “By proposing to include Vietnam, a non-market economy, in free trade negotiations, USTR [the office of the United States Trade Representative] is turning long-standing trade policy on its head. Non-market economies such as Vietnam have long been recognised as posing unique threats to US manufacturers and their workers.
”This is because the government controls or strongly influences the basic organs of the economy and can redirect resources to undercut US companies and drive them out of business. On top of that, Vietnam remains a communist country without the right of assembly, free press or a democratic vote. Why are we now offering Vietnam a free trade agreement, the crown jewel of trade liberalisation?”
Mr Johnson said that the admission of Vietnam into the WTO in 2007 had already failed to produce the benefits that the Bush Administration had been promised. It claims that, according to US government figures, the trade balance with Vietnam has sharply deteriorated. It reports that the trade deficit with Vietnam increased by $2.7 billion, or 35%, in just two years to a record $10.1 billion. Textile and apparel exports from Vietnam increased by $2 billion, or 60 percent, while the US textile and apparel sector has reportedly lost 97,000 jobs.
Mr Johnson said that the textile industry was surprised that the US government would even consider granting Vietnam free trade status. He said: “The government of Vietnam has a non-convertible currency, controls the ownership of land, owns all the major banks, sets wage rates and directly subsidises large portions of its economy, including the textile and apparel sector, which is still guided by five-year plans.
”Now, the US government is proposing to fling open the front door and let Vietnam do its worst. This is not only bad trade policy, but it is bad economic policy and it demonstrates why support for free trade agreements and further trade liberalisation has hit historic lows among the American public.”
He concluded: “NCTO urges the Obama Administration to begin the hard work of restoring confidence in US trade policy by overturning this bizarre and dangerous initiative from the waning days of the Bush Administration.”
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