WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Commerce Department announced on Friday that Vietnam will continue to be classified as a non-market economy country, a decision that will disappoint Hanoi, which the U.S. has been wooing in its efforts to push back again China.
Vietnam has long sought an upgrade from its listing alongside just 12 economies labeled by Washington as non-market, including China, Russia, North Korea and Azerbaijan.
Such a move has been opposed by U.S. steelmakers, Gulf Coast shrimpers and honey farmers and members of the U.S. Congress representing them, but backed by retailers and some other business groups.
“Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) announced its determination that Vietnam will continue to be classified as a non-market economy (NME) country for purposes of calculating U.S. antidumping duties (ADs) on imports from Vietnam,” the department said in a statement.
“This finding means that the methodology used in calculating U.S. antidumping duties on imports from Vietnam remains the same,” it said.
Vietnam has long argued it should be freed of the non-market label because of recent economic reforms, and it has said that retaining the moniker is bad for increasingly close two-way ties that Washington sees as a counterbalance to China.
Opponents argued that Hanoi’s policy commitments have not been matched by concrete actions and it operates as a planned economy governed by the ruling Communist Party. They say Vietnam is increasingly being used as a manufacturing hub by Chinese firms to circumvent U.S. curbs on imports from China.
Washington has worked hard to foster closer ties with Vietnam in the face of growing strategic competition with China and the issue of whether to upgrade Vietnam has been awkward given the approaching U.S. election in November and claims by each side that they stand for worker rights.
Vietnam’s Washington embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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