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By Wealthy McKay and Andrea Shalal
ATLANTA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday mentioned the USA’ upgraded partnership with Vietnam doesn’t require Vietnam to sever ties with Russia or China.
Requested whether or not Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s state go to to Vietnam to signal a slew of agreements starting from oil and fuel to nuclear science raised considerations for Washington, Yellen mentioned Hanoi has a transparent coverage of working with many international locations.
“Vietnam has a coverage and technique of working collaboratively with many various international locations, and it’s not a situation of our partnership that they sever their ties to Russia or to China,” Yellen advised a information convention in Atlanta.
Putin obtained a 21-gun salute at a army ceremony in Vietnam on Thursday, vowing to construct a “dependable safety structure” within the Asia-Pacific area throughout a two-nation journey to Asia seen as present of defiance to the West.
President Joe Biden and Yellen each visited Vietnam final 12 months as a part of a broader push to deepen ties with the Southeast Asian nation.
Yellen mentioned Washington had upgraded its relationship with Vietnam and noticed it as a accomplice in its efforts to diversify provide chains and cut back reliance on China, however had not conditioned expanded ties on Hanoi ending ties with Moscow or Beijing.
Knowledge present increased U.S. tariffs on Chinese language items have boosted imports from Vietnam, whose export increase depends on imports from neighboring China for a lot of its exports, information present.
The surge within the China-Vietnam-U.S. commerce has vastly widened commerce imbalances, with the Southeast Asian nation final 12 months posting a surplus with Washington near $105 billion – 2.5 occasions greater than in 2018 when the Trump administration first put heavy tariffs on Chinese language items.
Yellen mentioned Vietnam was additionally a part of a Simply Vitality Transition Partnership aimed toward decreasing international greenhouse fuel emissions and the USA was offering financing to assist Vietnam attain its goal of reducing emissions over time.
She didn’t reply to a query about whether or not Vietnam’s nearer ties with Moscow would have an effect on an upcoming U.S. Commerce Division resolution on whether or not it ought to improve the Communist-ruled nation to market economic system standing.
The Commerce division is because of resolve the problem by July 26. The transfer, opposed by U.S. steelmakers, Gulf Coast shrimpers and American honey farmers, however backed by retailers and another enterprise teams, would scale back the punitive anti-dumping duties set on Vietnamese imports due to its present standing as a non-market economic system marked by heavy state affect.
(Reporting by Wealthy McKay in Atlanta, writing by Andrea Shalal, enhancing by Deepa Babington)
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