07/20/2021

In an agreement announced July 19, 2021, the U.S. and Vietnam appear to have indefinitely delayed the implementation of potential Section 301 tariffs due to the U.S. previous finding of Vietnam’s unreasonable banking and currency policies and practices. In the joint statement released yesterday the two parties stated, in part, the following:

“The United States and Vietnam are trusted partners with friendship grounded in mutual respect. In keeping with this strong partnership, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) share the goals of maintaining the strength, stability, development, and resilience of each country’s economy and financial system. Treasury and the SBV have had constructive discussions in recent months through the enhanced engagement process, and reached agreement to address Treasury’s concerns about Vietnam’s currency practices as described in Treasury’s Report to Congress on the Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States.” “The SBV will continue to provide necessary information for Treasury to conduct thorough analysis and reporting on the SBV’s activities in the foreign exchange market in Treasury’s semiannual Report to Congress on the Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States. Treasury will inform other U.S. government agencies that it has reached agreement with the SBV to address Treasury’s concerns about Vietnam’s currency practices.”

The USTR and Treasury will monitor Vietnam’s implementation of these commitments and work with Vietnam to ensure it addresses the currency valuation issues raised in the Section 301 investigation.

V. Alexander will continue to monitor this issue and provide updates as needed.

Please contact your V. Alexander account team with any questions and follow us on our website www.valexander.com for updates on this and other topics.

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