Vietnam : Agreement With U.S. on 30 Garment Categories

The trade chiefs of US and Vietnam have made agreement on Asian nation's textile and garment quotas with the exports capped at $1.7 billion a year.

The two countries have agreed a cap on 30 garment categories although Vietnam has already shipped $530 million of textile goods to the US in the first three months of this year.

Vietnam has emerged as one of the world's leading bases for clothing producers and last year shipped $975m of textiles and apparel to the US thanks to a trade agreement signed in late 2001.

Officials today said the only remaining problem with the latest agreement is the US wants it to start from April 1, while Vietnam wants its implementation delayed until July 1.

"Until Saturday afternoon, the two sides have yet to officially seal the Vietnam-US garment and textile pact but the inking is likely to take place today or tomorrow," Vietnam’s deputy minister of industry, Bui Xuan Khu, told the Saigon Times.

"The US has agreed to raise the quota value by 10 per cent annually. The quota increase is small compared to the development of Vietnam's garment industry," he added.