VZCZCXRO3638
RR RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #3071/01 3601020
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261020Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4204
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 2288
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 003071 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS 
STATE PASS TO USTR DAVID BISBEE 
COMMERCE FOR 4431/MAC/AP/OPB/VLC/HPPHO 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD KTEX ECON PREL WTRO VM
SUBJECT: TRADE MINISTER -- THANKS ON QUOTA ELIMINATION BUT STILL 
CONCERNED ON MONITORING MECHANISM 
 
REF: (A) December 21 e-mail from David Bisbee 
      (B) Federal Register notice December 4, 2006 (Volume 
          71, Number 232), Page 70364-70366 
 
(U) SENSITIVE - DO NOT POST ON INTERNET 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Minister of Trade Tuyen has sent a letter thanking 
USTR for clarifying the timing of the elimination of textile and 
apparel quotas.  He also expresses appreciation for President Bush's 
signing of PNTR.  At the same time, he notes continued concern about 
the development of a "Monitoring Program on Imports of Textile and 
Apparel products from Vietnam."  The Ministry provided separate 
diplomatic notes addressed to USTR and Commerce focused on the 
monitoring mechanism.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) As requested in ref A, on December 22, Post delivered 
Deputy USTR Karan Bhatia's letter to Minister of Trade Truong Dinh 
Tuyen Tuyen explaining the timing of the expiration of U.S. quotas 
on apparel and textile goods from Vietnam in 2007 and including a 
copy of a federal register notice regarding specific line items and 
quantities.  On December 26, Post received Minister Tuyen's response 
to Ambassador Schwab and Ambassador Bhatia as well as the Ministry's 
formal comments on the textile monitoring system (ref b) in 
identical diplomatic notes addressed to USTR and the Department of 
Commerce.  Full texts are below. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Begin text of letter (GVN-provided translation): 
 
Hanoi, December 22, 2006 
 
Ambassador Susan C. Schwab 
Ambassador Karan K. Bhatia 
United States Trade Representative 
600 17th Street, N.W. 
Washington, DC 20508 
United States of America 
 
Dear Ambassador Schwab, 
Dear Ambassador Bhatia, 
 
First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks for your 
letter of December 20, 2006 welcoming Vietnam into the WTO on 
January 11, 2007.  Your letter has well answered to our concern 
about the timing for elimination of quotas on textile and apparels 
goods from Vietnam.  This facilitates the ongoing business between 
Vietnamese exporters and U.S. importers especially in the period 
from now till January 11, 2007. 
 
We highly appreciate President Bush's signing of legislation 
authorizing him to grant Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) to 
Vietnam.  Trade preference programs extended would surely contribute 
to the poverty alleviation of Vietnam and create more economic 
opportunities for the peoples of our two countries. 
 
I would like to take this opportunity to express our concern about 
the discriminatory Import Monitoring Program on Textile and Apparel 
Products from Vietnam.  As we have already mentioned, the 
discriminatory monitoring would cause U.S. importers great anxiety 
for building up a normal textile and apparel business relation with 
Vietnam.  They are, therefore, obliged to limit their imports.  We 
do not accept this proposal and hope that monitoring measures on 
textile and apparel from Vietnam would be taken in a same way as on 
textile and apparel from other trading partners that are members of 
WTO. 
 
I would like to take this chance to send best wishes to you and your 
family for the new year of 2007. 
 
Sincerely yours, 
(Signed) 
Truong Dinh Tuyen 
Minister of Trade 
 
End text of letter. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Ministry of Trade also sent identical diplomatic notes 
addressed to the Department of Commerce and USTR detailing Vietnam's 
concerns with the Department of Commerce's request for public 
comments on the development of a "Monitoring Program on Imports of 
Textile and Apparel products from Vietnam" (ref b).  Full text of 
the diplomatic notes is in paragraph 5. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Begin text of diplomatic notes (GVN-provided translation): 
 
Ref: VN-US/1/12/06 
 
 
HANOI 00003071  002 OF 002 
 
 
The Ministry of Trade of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam presents 
its compliments to the United States Trade Representative [the 
Department of Commerce of the United States] and would like to voice 
our disappointment over the Department of Commerce's invitation for 
public comments on the development of a "Monitoring Program on 
imports of textile and apparel products from Vietnam" in order to 
initiate antidumping investigations against Vietnamese textile and 
apparel imports.  The intention of establishing such monitoring 
program has led to considerable uncertainty for not only Vietnamese 
textile and apparel manufacturers and exporters but also the U.S. 
importers. 
 
A unique and separate monitoring program on imports of textile and 
apparel products from Vietnam which is completely different from 
monitoring regimes applied by the U.S. to cover imports from other 
WTO members constitutes an overt discrimination against Vietnam and 
runs contrary to the WTO's most fundamental principle of 
non-discrimination.  This program is a violation of Article XXIII of 
the GATT 1994 as it causes nullification and serious prejudice to 
the interests of Vietnam as a WTO member.  Furthermore, this program 
is also inconsistent with the Bilateral Agreement between Vietnam 
and the United States on Vietnam's accession to the WTO signed on 31 
May 2006. 
 
The fact remains that Vietnam's textile and apparel products cannot 
compete against exports of many other countries since most of 
accessories and materials for its production of textile and apparel 
products must be imported, and the U.S. is currently the largest 
supplier of cotton for Vietnam. 
 
Vietnam is always in favor of legitimate initiatives to protect the 
interests of good-faith businesses of both Vietnam and the U.S. 
Thus we have, during years of implementation of the Bilateral 
Textile Agreement, offered close, timely and effective cooperation 
with the U.S. authorities, particularly the Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP), to ensure strict enforcement of the U.S. Customs 
regulations.  The Ministry of Trade of Vietnam, therefore, requests 
that any monitoring measure applied to Vietnamese textile and 
apparel exports to the U.S. should not be different from those 
currently imposed by the U.S. on other WTO members so that there 
would not be neither discrimination nor prejudice to the interests 
of the Vietnamese manufacturers and the U.S. clients doing business 
with Vietnam. 
 
For the reasons stated above, the Ministry of Trade of the Socialist 
Republic of Vietnam would like to call on the U.S. Government to 
reconsider seriously and withdraw the proposal for developing a 
Monitoring Program on imports of textile and apparel products from 
Vietnam. 
 
The Ministry of Trade of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam avails 
itself of this opportunity to renew to the Department of Commerce of 
the United States (United States Trade Representative) the 
assurances of its highest consideration. 
 
Hanoi, 22 December 2006 
 
To: The Department of Commerce of the United States 
    (The United States Trade Representative) 
Cc: The Embassy of the United States of America in Hanoi, 
     Vietnam 
    The Embassy of the S.R. of Vietnam in the United States 
     of America 
 
End text. 
 
¶6. Post is sending originals of letter and diplomatic notes to 
Washington via diplomatic pouch. 
 
ALOISI