US-Vietnam Coalition Urges Congress to Act on Vietnam PNTR
The US-Vietnam WTO Coalition has asked the US Congress to approve Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status for Vietnam.
In the December 1 letter to the leaders of the US Senate and the House of Representatives, the coalition said its members urged that PNTR for Vietnam be approved before the adjournment of the 109th Congress.
" The members of our coalition, which is made up of more than 150 American companies, farm groups, associations, and public interest organisations, would like to bring to your attention the commercial cost of the US invoking non-application status as Vietnam's WTO membership takes effect at the end of this month," the letter wrote.
It went on: "We urge you to act promptly on PNTR for Vietnam before our farmers, workers, and companies have to pay the price in terms of contracts, sales and market access. In addition, we urge a fair outcome to any procedures applied to the textile and apparel industry."
As Vietnam's National Assembly ratified the country's membership on November 28, it will start taking effect at the end of this year, the letter said, stressing that without the extension of PNTR status to Vietnam by the United States, Vietnam's full WTO commitments will not be automatically extended to the US. "The United States will be handicapped of this critical market of 83 million people while our competitors profit from the new opportunities created by Vietnam's WTO accession and the phenomenal growth of Vietnam's economy," it added.
The letter, which was addressed to Speaker of the US House of Representatives J. Dennis Hastert, Minority Leader of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader of the US Senate Bill Frist and Minority Leader of the US Senate Harry Reid, was signed by representatives from US big organisations and groups, including the Boeing Corporation, Chevron, Citigroup and Computing Technology Industry Association.
(VNA)
