United States-Vietnam Trade Relations Hearing
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UNITED STATES-VIETNAM TRADE RELATIONS HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRADE OF THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JUNE 15, 2000 Serial 106–106 Printed for the use of the Committee on Ways and Means ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 71–553 DTP WASHINGTON : 2001 For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402 VerDate 20-JUL-2000 14:16 May 02, 2001 Jkt 060010 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 K:\HEARINGS\71553.TXT WAYS3 PsN: WAYS3 COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS BILL ARCHER, Texas, Chairman PHILIP M. CRANE, Illinois CHARLES B. RANGEL, New York BILL THOMAS, California FORTNEY PETE STARK, California E. CLAY SHAW, JR., Florida ROBERT T. MATSUI, California NANCY L. JOHNSON, Connecticut WILLIAM J. COYNE, Pennsylvania AMO HOUGHTON, New York SANDER M. LEVIN, Michigan WALLY HERGER, California BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland JIM MCCRERY, Louisiana JIM MCDERMOTT, Washington DAVE CAMP, Michigan GERALD D. KLECZKA, Wisconsin JIM RAMSTAD, Minnesota JOHN LEWIS, Georgia JIM NUSSLE, Iowa RICHARD E. NEAL, Massachusetts SAM JOHNSON, Texas MICHAEL R. MCNULTY, New York JENNIFER DUNN, Washington WILLIAM J. JEFFERSON, Louisiana MAC COLLINS, Georgia JOHN S. TANNER, Tennessee ROB PORTMAN, Ohio XAVIER BECERRA, California PHILIP S. ENGLISH, Pennsylvania KAREN L. THURMAN, Florida WES WATKINS, Oklahoma LLOYD DOGGETT, Texas J.D. HAYWORTH, Arizona JERRY WELLER, Illinois KENNY HULSHOF, Missouri SCOTT MCINNIS, Colorado RON LEWIS, Kentucky MARK FOLEY, Florida A.L. SINGLETON, Chief of Staff JANICE MAYS, Minority Chief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRADE PHILIP M. CRANE, Illinois, Chairman BILL THOMAS, California SANDER M. LEVIN, Michigan E. CLAY SHAW, JR., Florida CHARLES B. RANGEL, New York AMO HOUGHTON, New York RICHARD E. NEAL, Massachusetts DAVE CAMP, Michigan MICHAEL R. MCNULTY, New York JIM RAMSTAD, Minnesota WILLIAM J. JEFFERSON, Louisiana JENNIFER DUNN, Washington XAVIER BECERRA, California WALLY HERGER, California JIM NUSSLE, Iowa Pursuant to clause 2(e)(4) of Rule XI of the Rules of the House, public hearing records of the Committee on Ways and Means are also published in electronic form. The printed hearing record remains the official version. Because electronic submissions are used to prepare both printed and electronic versions of the hearing record, the process of converting between various electronic formats may introduce unintentional errors or omissions. Such occur- rences are inherent in the current publication process and should diminish as the process is further refined. ii VerDate 20-JUL-2000 14:16 May 02, 2001 Jkt 060010 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 K:\HEARINGS\71553.TXT WAYS3 PsN: WAYS3 C O N T E N T S Page Advisory of May 30, 2000, announcing the hearing ............................................. 2 WITNESSES Montagnard Advocacy, Y Hin Nie .......................................................................... 39 Pacific Ventures, Inc., Barry L. Clark ................................................................... 54 Peterson, Hon. Douglas ‘‘Pete’’, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam ............................ 16 Rohrabacher, Hon. Dana, a Representative in Congress from the State of California .............................................................................................................. 6 U.S.-ASEAN Business Council, and Cargill, Incorporated, Juels Carlson ......... 45 U.S.-Vietnam Trade Council, Virginia B. Foote .................................................... 32 Vietnamese-American Public Affairs Committee, Falls Church, Virginia, Dan Duy-Tu Hoang ...................................................................................................... 50 SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD American Legion, John F. Sommer, Jr., letter ...................................................... 57 Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, MO, statement and attachment ............................... 58 Boat People S.O.S., Merrifield, VA, Nguyen Dinh Thang, statement ................. 60 General Electric Company, Andre Sauvageot, statement .................................... 61 Khmer Kampuchea Krom Federation, Lakewood, CA, statement ....................... 64 McCain, Hon. John, a United States Senator from the State of Arizona, statement .............................................................................................................. 68 Montagnard Human Rights Organization, Greensboro, NC, Rong Nay, state- ment ...................................................................................................................... 70 National Alliance of Families, Bellevue, WA, Dolores Apodaca Alfond, state- ment and attachments ......................................................................................... 71 New York Life Insurance, Inc., Sandra J. Kristoff, statement ............................ 72 Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Bruce R. Harder, statement ... 74 iii VerDate 20-JUL-2000 14:16 May 02, 2001 Jkt 060010 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 K:\HEARINGS\71553.TXT WAYS3 PsN: WAYS3 VerDate 20-JUL-2000 14:16 May 02, 2001 Jkt 060010 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 K:\HEARINGS\71553.TXT WAYS3 PsN: WAYS3 UNITED STATES-VIETNAM TRADE RELATIONS THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2000 COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:15 a.m., in room 1100, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Philip M. Crane (Chairman of the Committee) presiding. [The advisory announcing the hearing follows:] (1) VerDate 20-JUL-2000 14:16 May 02, 2001 Jkt 060010 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 K:\HEARINGS\71553.TXT WAYS3 PsN: WAYS3 2 ADVISORY FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRADE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: (202) 225–1721 May 30, 2000 No. TR–21 Crane Announces Hearing on United States-Vietnam Trade Relations Congressman Philip M. Crane (R–IL), Chairman, Subcommittee on Trade of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on United States-Vietnam Trade Relations, including the renewal of Viet- nam’s waiver under the Jackson-Vanik amendment to the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act). The hearing will take place on Thursday, June 15 , 2000, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, begin- ning at 10:00 a.m. Oral testimony at this hearing will be from both invited and public witnesses. In- vited witnesses will include the Honorable Douglas ‘‘Pete’’ Peterson, U.S. Ambas- sador to Vietnam . Also, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee or for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing. BACKGROUND: Vietnam’s trade status is subject to the Jackson-Vanik amendment to Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974. This provision of law governs the extension of normal trade relations (NTR), including normal tariff treatment, as well as access to U.S. Govern- ment credits, or credit or investment guarantees, to nonmarket economy countries ineligible for NTR treatment as of the enactment of the Trade Act. A country subject to the provision may gain NTR treatment and coverage by U.S. trade financing pro- grams only by complying with the freedom of emigration provisions under the Trade Act. The extension of NTR tariff treatment also requires the conclusion and ap- proval by Congress of a bilateral commercial agreement with the United States pro- viding for reciprocal nondiscriminatory treatment. The Trade Act authorizes the President to waive the requirements for full compliance with respect to a particular country if he determines that a waiver will substantially promote the freedom of emigration provisions, and if he has received assurances that the emigration prac- tices of the country will lead substantially to the achievement of those objectives. Since the early 1990s, the United States has taken gradual steps to improve rela- tions with Vietnam. In February 1994, President Clinton lifted the trade embargo on Vietnam in recognition of the progress made in POW/MIA accounting. The United States opened a Liaison Office in Hanoi later that year. On July 11, 1995, President Clinton announced the establishment of diplomatic relations, which was followed by the appointment of former Congressman Douglas ‘‘Pete’’ Peterson as U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam. In 1997, the Office of the United States Trade Rep- resentative began negotiations toward the conclusion of a bilateral commercial agreement with Vietnam. An agreement in principle was reached with Vietnam on July 25, 1999. The trade agreement, while not yet signed, consists of four parts: market access, trade in services, intellectual property rights protection, and invest- ment. Because the bilateral trade agreement with Vietnam has not yet entered into force, Vietnam is ineligible to receive NTR tariff treatment. However, if the Presi- VerDate 20-JUL-2000 14:16 May 02, 2001 Jkt 060010 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 K:\HEARINGS\71553.TXT WAYS3 PsN: WAYS3 3 dent determines that a Jackson-Vanik waiver would substantially promote the free- dom of emigration objectives under the Trade Act, U.S. exporters doing business in Vietnam are given access to U.S. Government credits, or credit or investment guar- antees, such as those available from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Export-Import Bank, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provided that Vietnam meets the relevant program