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• National Agricultural Law Center
• U.S. Department of State

Summary

After communist North Vietnam's victory over U.S.-backed South Vietnam in 1975, U.S.-Vietnam relations remained essentially frozen until the mid-1990s. Since then, bilateral ties have expanded remarkably, to the point where the relationship has been virtually normalized. Indeed, since 2002, overlapping strategic and economic interests have compelled the United States and Vietnam to improve relations across a wide spectrum of issues. Congress played a significant role in the normalization process and continues to influence the state of bilateral relations. Voices favoring improved relations have included those reflecting U.S. business interests in Vietnam's reforming economy and U.S. strategic interests in expanding cooperation with a populous country -- Vietnam has over 85 million people -- that has an ambivalent relationship with China. Others argue that improvements in bilateral relations should be conditioned upon Vietnam's authoritarian government improving its record on human rights. The population of over 1 million Vietnamese Americans, as well as legacies of the Vietnam War, also drive continued U.S. interest. Economic ties are the most mature aspect of the bilateral relationship. Since the United States extended conditional normal trade relations (NTR) to Vietnam in 2001, bilateral trade -- primarily imports from Vietnam -- has increased more than sixfold, to the point where the United States is now Vietnam's largest export market. The final step toward full economic normalization was accomplished in December 2006, when Congress passed and President Bush signed H.R. 6111 (P.L. 109-432), extending permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status to Vietnam. For years, the United States has supported Vietnam's market-oriented economic reforms, which many credit with Vietnam's extraordinary economic performance; annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth has averaged over 7% for the past twenty years. Since the early 1990s, poverty levels have been halved, to less than 30%. Since 2002, the United States and Vietnam have expanded political and security ties, symbolized by reciprocal summits that have been held annually since 2005. In 2005, the United States and Vietnam signed an international military education training (IMET) agreement. Vietnam is one of the largest recipients of U.S. assistance in East Asia; estimated U.S. aid in FY2007 surpassed $90 million, much of it for health-related activities. In September 2007, the House passed the Vietnam Human Rights Act, H.R. 3096, which would freeze some non-humanitarian U.S. assistance programs at existing levels if Vietnam does not improve its human rights situation. A wave of arrests of dissidents in 2006 and 2007 heightened U.S. concerns about human rights in Vietnam. Vietnamese leaders have sought to upgrade relations with the United States due in part to worries about China's expanding influence in Southeast Asia and the desire for continued U.S. support for their economic reforms. Many argue, however, that there is little evidence that Hanoi seeks to balance Beijing's rising power. Also, some Vietnamese remain suspicious that the long-term U.S. goal is to end the Vietnamese communist party's monopoly on power through a "peaceful evolution" strategy.

Related Legislation:
• H.R.6111
• H.R.3096

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