Senate Democrat urges action on Vietnam trade bill

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Congress should approve a
trade deal with Vietnam before President George W. Bush goes
there in November to meet Asia Pacific leaders, a senior Senate
Democrat said on Tuesday.

“My strong view is that we must pass PNTR (permanent normal
trade relations) … as quickly as we can,” said Sen. Max
Baucus, a Montana Democrat. “I think it would not look good for
the president to go to Hanoi empty-handed.”

U.S. business groups would like the Vietnam trade
legislation to be passed before the August congressional break
but Baucus indicated that could be difficult because it is
subject to amendments, which could take more time than trade
agreements that move through Congress under fast-track
procedures.

U.S. and Vietnamese trade officials signed an agreement in
late May clearing the way for Hanoi to join the World Trade
Organization. The pact lowers Vietnam’s tariffs on U.S.
industrial and farm goods and removes other barriers that block
U.S. companies in sectors such as telecommunications,
retailing, banking, insurance and energy.

As its part of the deal, the United States must approve
permanent normal trade relations with Hanoi instead of
providing normal trade relations on a renewable basis as it
does now.

The PNTR bill could attract a number of amendments related
both to Vietnam and other trade issues. Some lawmakers would
like Hanoi to make more progress on religious rights before
upgrading trade relations.

However, Baucus said most members strongly supported the
legislation and did not want to “load it up with amendments
that will sink PNTR.”

Hanoi would like to be a WTO member by the time it hosts
the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting in
November.

Failure to approve PNTR would not block Vietnam from
joining the WTO, but it would bar the United States from
gaining the increased market access it has negotiated as part
of the bilateral accession pact, Baucus said.

Approval of PNTR would complete a reconciliation process
between the former war enemies that Bush’s father, former
President George Bush, began in 1991, Baucus said.