Vietnam is to shelve its ratification of a US-led Pacific trade accord due to political changes ahead in the US, but wants to maintain good relations with Washington as much as it does all other nations, the Vietnamese prime minister said yesterday.
Vietnam’s legislature was almost certain to ratify the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreed last year, but had deferred it until after the US presidential election, which was won by Donald Trump, whose protectionist agenda on the campaign trail has unnerved Asian economies.
The TPP, the signature economic policy of US President Barack Obama’s Asia “pivot,” looks increasingly uncertain with a Republican US Congress and an incoming president who has called the agreement a “disaster.”
The TPP would be a big boon for Vietnam’s exports and manufacturing economy, which is receiving record foreign investment due to its numerous trade accords, cheap labor and relative stability.
“The United States has announced it suspends the submission of TPP to the parliament, so there are not sufficient conditions for Vietnam to submit its proposal for ratification,” Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told the National Assembly.
Post-US election responses by the Asian nations on the TPP varied, from suggestions by Malaysia that it would focus efforts on wrapping up a multi-nation trade pact led by China and Japan trying to stick with the TPP and push ratification.
According to the TPP’s statutes, it can only be adopted if the US is part of it, given its economy represents about two thirds of the combined GDP of the original 12 members.
Phuc said that with or without the TPP, Vietnam is committed to further opening up its economy to the world. Earlier yesterday, he raised his forecast for Vietnam’s annual export growth this year to 8 percent.
“We already have signed 12 free-trade agreements, so joining the TPP is good, but without joining TPP we will still continue to further the economic integration under programs we have joined,” the prime minister said.
His comments echoed those last week by the nation’s trade minister, who said the textiles, seafood and footwear sectors would still remain competitive without the TPP.
Phuc said relations with the US administration would remain strong, but he emphasized how Vietnam was committed to sticking by its longstanding foreign policy.
“The party, the state are implementing a policy aimed at diversification and multilateral ties, considering all countries as friends,” he said. “We are ready to cooperate with the United States for codevelopment on the principle of respecting independence, territorial sovereignty, causing no harm to each other.”
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