On May 8 (US time), the US Department of Commerce held a hearing on upgrading market economy status for Vietnam.

On the afternoon of May 9, at a regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said that Vietnam welcomed the US Department of Commerce for holding a hearing. This is an important step in the process of reviewing the dossier to recognize Vietnam's market economy status.

At the hearing, the Vietnamese side clearly presented arguments, information, and data affirming that the Vietnamese economy fully meets the criteria of market economy status, and emphasized that the Vietnamese economy is even doing better than many economies that have been recognized as market economy status.

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Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang responded at a press conference on the afternoon of May 9. Photo: Pham Hai

In fact, up to now, 72 countries have recognized Vietnam as having a market economy, including major economies such as the UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, etc. Vietnam has also participated in 16 bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements with more than 60 partners across all continents.

"The US's early recognition of Vietnam's market economy status will contribute to concretizing the commitments of the two countries' senior leaders, strengthening the Vietnam-US comprehensive strategic partnership. Thereby, promoting economic and trade relations will bring practical benefits to businesses and people of the two countries," the spokesperson affirmed.

Without being recognized by the US as a market economy, Vietnamese goods entering the US market are susceptible to higher anti-dumping taxes.

The US Department of Commerce has a set of criteria for evaluating countries as market economies.

Criteria include currency convertibility; wages negotiated between employee and employer; and permission for joint ventures or other forms of foreign investment.

Other criteria are whether the government owns or controls the means of production, controls resource allocation, prices, and output decisions.

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