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SUBCOMMITTEES: Privacy, Copyright, and Permission to Link Statement |
Committee on Ways and Means For
Immediate Release WAYS AND MEANS CHAIRMAN BILL THOMAS (R-CA) FLOOR STATEMENT ON H.J. RES. 51 As prepared for delivery The US–Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement marks a milestone in the strengthening of our bilateral relations. This agreement is a sensible and necessary step. Vietnam has emerged as one of Southeast Asia’s more promising economies, and it has the potential to be a strong trading partner for America. Continued engagement with Vietnam must lie at the core of our relationship. It has already produced concrete results in terms of the achievement of U.S. policy objectives, such as the fullest possible accounting of U.S. servicemen missing in action and resolution of remaining emigration cases. This trade agreement - the product of many years of bipartisan effort - will allow this engagement to continue, offering us the opportunity to promote significant change in Vietnam’s trade and economic policies, enhancing both internal reform and regional stability. It commits Vietnam to the core principles of a market economy: open goods and services markets, expanded rule of law, and broader economic freedoms. You get off the plane in Vietnam and sense immediately the profound changes that interaction with the world at large has already brought. Vietnam moves at a vibrant pace. Its streets teem with new enterprises alongside the old. Young entrepreneurs sell modern electronic goods beside ancient shopkeepers and purveyors of hand-painted bowls. Joint ventures create modern factories where remote rice paddies once lay. But Vietnam is a work in progress. Its commitment to reform has been tested by two years of slow economic growth following an extended period of strong improvement. The economy is now recovering, but that recovery remains fragile. The country leapt toward a market economy in the late 1980s, and its GDP doubled in the ‘90s, making it one of the fastest growing economies in the world with 7.6 percent growth over the last decade. In a country where official per capita GNP hovers at $370, poverty is declining sharply as a direct result of the government’s recognition of the value of market forces. Vietnam’s ongoing commitment to structural reform has laid the path for this continuing recovery. But its economic promise has yet to be fulfilled. The bilateral trade agreement and American engagement will help move Vietnam toward fulfillment of that promise. Its exports to the US are expected to more than double once the agreement is in place, helping to create jobs and raise living standards. Just as important, what does the agreement mean for the U.S.? First, American business gets greater access to Vietnam’s market of almost 80 million people, as well as lower tariffs on U.S. goods. The agreement also reinforces Vietnam’s full commitment to cooperate in accounting for the remaining American servicemen still missing in action. Most of all, continued engagement maximizes U.S. influence over the pace and direction of Vietnam’s reforms, allowing our voice to be heard as Vietnam determines its future. And a strong Vietnam matters to America. It matters because history has proved that we pay a heavy price for instability in southeast Asia. I urge you to vote yes for H.R. 51. |