Please try another search
Economy17 hours ago (Jul 24, 2021 03:55AM ET)
By David Lawder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Trade Representative’s office on Friday said it had determined that no tariff action against Vietnam was warranted after its central bank agreed with the U.S. Treasury not to manipulate its currency for an export advantage.
In a statement, USTR said it found that the U.S. Treasury-State Bank of Vietnam agreement earlier this week “provides a satisfactory resolution of the matter subject to investigation and accordingly that no trade action is warranted at this time.”
The State Bank of Vietnam on Monday pledged in an agreement with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to refrain from “competitive devaluation” of its dong currency and make its monetary and exchange rate policies more transparent.
The deal follows months of U.S. pressure on Vietnam over its currency practices and ballooning U.S. trade surplus. The Trump administration in its final weeks had declared Vietnam a currency manipulator and had threatened to impose punitive tariffs on imports from Vietnam over its currency practices.
The USTR determination, outlined in a federal register https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/files/Press/Releases/Vietnam_Currency_301_Notice_FRN.pdf notice, only pertains to its Section 301 investigation into Vietnam’s currency practices. It does not affect a separate Section 301 investigation into Vietnam’s use of illegally harvested or traded timber that could lead to tariffs on furniture and other wood products imported from Vietnam.
“American workers and businesses are stronger when our partners value their currency fairly and compete on a level playing field,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement.
“Going forward, in coordination with Treasury, we will work together with Vietnam to ensure implementation, and we will continue to examine the currency practices of other major trading partners,” Tai added.
Vietnam welcomed the USTR’s decision to take no action, its foreign minister, Bui Thanh Son, said.
“Constructive efforts and goodwill help resolve outstanding issues and contribute to the building of a better and stronger partnership,” Son said on Twitter on Saturday.
The Vietnamese dong closed at 23,005 to the dollar on Friday, compared with 23,191 on Oct. 2, 2020, the day that USTR launched its currency probe.
Related Articles
Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.
Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.