US, Vietnam Vow to Reconcile Differences to Lock Down TPP
The U.S. and Vietnam are collaborating to wrap up Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations “as soon as possible,” said the two countries in a joint statement released by the White House on July 7, following a summit between President Barack Obama and Vietnamese General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. The summit marks the first time the head of Vietnam’s communist party, one of the highest-ranking officials in the country, visited the White House since the countries normalized diplomatic relations nearly 20 years ago. “The United States and Vietnam expect to work in close coordination … to carry out whatever reforms may be necessary to meet the high standards of the TPP agreement, including as necessary with respect to commitments relating to the 1998 ILO Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work,” said the statement (here).
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U.S. importers are aiming for more Vietnamese apparel trade as part of a final TPP pact, and U.S. agricultural producers are also eyeing the Vietnamese market for more exports (see 13082011). House Ways and Means ranking member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., a staunch critic of TPP talks underway, pushed Obama administration officials to hammer home the importance of Vietnamese labor reform. “Labor reform in Vietnam must mean more than lip service – it must mean concrete action that complies with basic international standards before, not after, an agreement,” said Levin in a statement (here). “It must be made clear during the General Secretary’s visit that TPP will require meaningful implementation of international standards so there’s a real right of assembly, including the right of workers to choose their representatives and their own organizations at all levels.”