Grassley Wants Vietnam Trade Agreement by June 1

May 24, 2001

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Committee on Finance, has asked President Bush to submit the U.S.-Vietnam Trade Agreement to Congress by June 1. Grassley said the submission would allow Congress to carefully review the trade agreement at the same time it considers another key decision on trade with Vietnam.

"I hope to see quick consideration of the Vietnam trade agreement," Grassley said. "This agreement will give U.S. farms and businesses significant new opportunities to trade with Vietnam. It makes sense to review this agreement with a related time-sensitive decision on congressional consideration of the annual waiver for Vietnam."

The Jackson-Vanik amendment of 1974 requires the President to certify that a country permits free emigration before the country can participate in various trade support programs, or the President can waive the emigration requirement on the grounds that the waiver will promote U.S. emigration values.

Each year, the President must submit to Congress by June 3 his decision to continue waivers of the amendment for individual countries where he determines the waiver will substantially promote freedom of emigration. Congress then has the opportunity to disapprove the overall authority or withhold it for an individual country through a joint resolution of disapproval, which must pass both chambers before Sept. 1. If Congress does not vote to disapprove, the authority is automatically renewed.

However, Vietnam is among a few countries that do not have normal trade relations with the United States. Others include Afghanistan, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, Serbia and Montenegro. To have normal trade relations with Vietnam under Jackson-Vanik, Congress must not disapprove of the presidential waiver of the Jackson-Vanik amendment for Vietnam, and Vietnam must have a bilateral trade agreement with the United States. The signing of the U.S.-Vietnam trade agreement on July 13, 2000, opened the door to normal trade relations for Vietnam, subject to presidential waiver and annual renewal.