U.S.-Vietnam Relations: Background and Issues for Congress

After communist North Vietnams victory over U.S.-backed South Vietnam in 1975, U.S.-Vietnam relations remained essentially frozen until the mid-1990s. Since then, bilateral ties have expanded remarkably, to the point where the relationship has been virtually normalized. Indeed, since 2002, overlapping strategic and economic interests have compelled the United States and Vietnam to improve relations across a wide spectrum of issues. Congress played a significant role in the normalization process and continues to influence the state of bilateral relations. Voices favoring improved relations have included those reflecting U.S. business interests in Vietnam s reforming economy and U.S. strategic interests in expanding cooperation with a populous country Vietnam has over 85 million people that has an ambivalent relationship with China. Others argue that improvements in bilateral relations should be conditioned upon Vietnam s authoritarian government improving its record on human rights. The population of over 1 million Vietnamese Americans, as well as legacies of the Vietnam War, also drive continued U.S. interest. Economic ties are the most mature aspect of the bilateral relationship. The United States is Vietnam s largest export market. The final step toward full economic normalization was accomplished in December 2006, when Congress passed and President Bush signed H.R. 6111 P.L. 109-432, extending permanent normal trade relations PNTR status to Vietnam. For years, the United States has supported Vietnam s market-oriented economic reforms, which many credit with Vietnam s extraordinary economic performance from 1987-2007, annual gross domestic product GDP growth has averaged over 7. Since the early 1990s, poverty levels have been halved, to less than 30.