US decision on Vietnam's market economy status unfortunate: ministry

Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade says it "regrets that the U.S. Department of Commerce continues to designate Vietnam as a non-market economy, though the country's improvements were acknowledged."

The ministry will learn from the decision to update its documents for re-application, in line with the Vietnam-United States comprehensive strategic partnership, it said in a Friday statement.

The U.S. Department of Commerce stated Friday 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 methodology used in calculating U.S. antidumping duties on imports from Vietnam remains the same, the department elaborated.

As part of this proceeding, the department received over 36,000 pages of comments from bodies in the United States and Vietnam. The Department of Commerce said it appreciates and commends the extensive participation of sides in the transparent, quasi-judicial process.

“Despite Vietnam’s substantive reforms made over the past 20 years, the extensive government involvement in Vietnam’s economy distorts Vietnamese prices and costs and ultimately render them unusable for the purpose of calculating U.S. antidumping duties,” the department said.

The Department of Commerce will continue to use market-based prices and costs from a country at a comparable level of economic development to Vietnam that produces comparable merchandise to calculate antidumping duties.

During the process of determining Vietnam's status, many American bodies, including the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (AmCham Vietnam) and the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council (USABC), expressed their backing for the country to become a market economy.

The USABC, in comment sent to the Department of Commerce, stated that Vietnam has put “all the basics” in place for being designated a market economy.

In its letter to the department, AmCham Vietnam said “we have witnessed first hand the transformation of Vietnam’s economy and the remarkable changes that have occurred.

“American companies and investors are now active in almost every sector of Vietnam’s economy, helping to integrate the country into the global supply chain and making the country more productive, safe and cleaner.”

The letter added that “it is certain that Vietnam’s economy is very different to the other 11 countries on the non-market economy list. We believe that sufficient progress has been made and that graduating Vietnam to market economy status serves the interests of the United States.”

The U.S. has been Vietnam’s largest export market for years, with the latter sending $97 billion worth of goods to the former in 2023, 27% of the Southeast Asian country’s total exports.

Up to 72 economies, including the UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand, have recognized Vietnam as a market economy.