USTR Signals Biden Will Hold Vietnam Accountable on Currency

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai met virtually with Vietnam Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, highlighting the Biden administration’s “concerns” about Hanoi’s “currency practices covered in the ongoing Section 301 investigation,” said her agency Thursday. She and Anh committed to meeting later this year “to assess progress made in strengthening the trade relationship and in resolving outstanding bilateral issues,” it said. It was the first apparent signal that President Joe Biden's administration intends to keep U.S. allegations of Vietnam’s currency manipulation actively on the table. Tai’s predecessor, Robert Lighthizer, opted not to impose remedial tariffs on Vietnam imports in the remaining days of the Donald Trump administration for Hanoi’s allegedly improper devaluation of the dong against the dollar, but he did find Vietnam’s practices “actionable” under Section 301, leaving it up to the next administration to “continue to evaluate all available options” (see 2101150052). Vietnam generated 19% of all smartphone imports to the U.S. in 2020, plus 5% of laptops and tablets and 24% of TVs under 35 inches, which were in especially high demand last year during the pandemic.