{
  "id": "RL31470",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL31470",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101291,
      "date": "2003-06-18",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-08T14:43:16.302544",
      "title": "The Vietnam-U.S. Textile Agreement",
      "summary": "In December 2001, the United States granted Vietnam most-favored-nation status, a key\ncondition\nof the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) that was approved by Congress and signed\nby President Bush earlier in the year. Since the BTA went into effect, U.S. imports from Vietnam\nhave more than doubled. Most of this increase is due to the sharp rise in clothing imports, which\nincreased to almost $900 million in 2002, nearly twenty times the $45-$50 million range that\nVietnam had recorded in 2000 and 2001. By dollar value, clothing is now the largest import item\nfrom Vietnam. In 2002, Vietnam accounted for less than 1.5% of U.S. textile and apparel imports,\nwhile about one-third of Vietnam's textile and apparel exports went to the U.S. market. \n During the congressional debate over the BTA, many Members urged the Bush Administration\nto negotiate a bilateral textile agreement soon after the BTA came into effect. On April 25, 2003,\nthe United States and Vietnam completed nearly three weeks of intense negotiations by signing a\nbilateral textile agreement that places quotas on 38 categories of clothing imports from Vietnam,\nincluding cotton pants and cotton knit shirts/blouses, the two most important items. The deal was\nreached after the U.S. side threatened to unilaterally impose more restrictive quotas if the\nVietnamese did not agree to U.S. demands. Additionally, the talks were nearly derailed by an April\n2003 finding by the U.S. Customs Service charging that some apparel imports labeled as Vietnamese\nwere actually produced in China. On labor rights, the agreement calls for Vietnam to reaffirm its\ncommitments to and cooperate with the International Labor Organization, and to continue its\nbilateral programs with the U.S. Labor Department. These provisions are far less detailed and\ncomprehensive than the labor provisions included in the U.S.-Cambodia textile agreement and the\nU.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreements, which several Members of Congress had suggested as models\nfor a U.S.-Vietnam textile agreement.\n This report analyzes the bilateral textile agreement, U.S.-Vietnam trade in textiles and apparel,\nthe arguments that have been raised for and against a textile agreement, and the debate surrounding\na proposed labor provision. This report will be updated periodically. For further information on\nU.S.-Vietnam relations and the BTA, see the following CRS products: CRS Issue Brief IB98033,\n The Vietnam-U.S. Normalization Process , by Mark Manyin;  CRS Report RL30416 ,\n The\nVietnam-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement , by Mark Manyin. Further information on textile\nand\napparel issues is available in  CRS Report RL31723 ,  Textile and Apparel Trade Issues ,\nby Bernard\nA. Gelb. The authors would like to thank former CRS analyst Nikki Sayres, who wrote the original\nversion of this report.",
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    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc811488/",
      "id": "RL31470_2002Jun21",
      "date": "2002-06-21",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "The Vietnam-U.S. Textile Agreement Debate: Trade Patterns, Interests, and Labor Rights",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
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    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Asian Affairs",
    "Foreign Affairs"
  ]
}