US exports momentum to continue despite Vietnam’s non-market economy status: WB expert

Although the United States has continued designating Vietnam as a non-market economy, it "does not necessarily change anything," says Dorsati Madani, a senior country economist with the World Bank in Vietnam.

She was responding at a Monday press meet to The Investor's question about possible impacts of the move, given that the United States is a major trade partner.

On August 2, the U.S. Department of Commerce decided to continue designating Vietnam as a non-market economy for purposes of calculating antidumping duties on imports from the country, along with 11 other nations including Russia and China.

Madani said Vietnam has been exporting to the United States as a "non-market economy" and the bilateral partnership will continue its momentum. “Vietnam knows how to export to the United States,” she emphasized.

However, she also clarified that a "market economy" status would benefit some sectors for Vietnam with reduced tariffs and additional export room.

Nguyen Xuan Thang, a Politburo member and director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, had said during a July 31-August 4 working visit to the U.S. that Vietnam was disappointed at the decision not to graduate the country to a market economy.

In response, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell had expressed his support for continued bilateral engagement on the steps Vietnam can take to transition to a market economy.

Vietnam’s total exports rose 15.7% year-on-year in January-July 2024 to $226.98 billion, up 14.5% from January-June, according to the country's General Statistics Office.

The U.S. continued to be the number one buyer of Vietnamese goods with a January-July value of $66.1 billion.

Vietnam’s economy is forecast to grow by 6.1% in 2024 and 6.5% in 2025 and 2026, the World Bank said in its August "Taking Stock" edition, a bi-annual economic report on the country.

The figures are higher than those in the June edition of the WB's “Global Economic Prospects” report. In this report, the bank said Vietnam’s GDP growth can accelerate from 5.5% in 2024 to 6% in 2025 and 6.5% in 2026.