Vietnam will shelve ratification of a US-led Pacific trade accord due to political changes ahead in the United States, but wants to maintain good relations with Washington as much as it does all other countries, its prime minister said on Thursday. Vietnam's legislature was almost certain to ratify the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreed last year but had deferred it until after the US presidential election won by Republican Donald Trump, whose protectionist agenda on the campaign trail has unnerved Asian economies.
The TPP, the signature economic policy of President Barack Obama's Asia-Pacific rebalance, looks increasingly uncertain with a Republican Congress and an incoming president who had called the agreement a "disaster". The TPP would be a big boon for Vietnam's exports and manufacturing economy, which is receiving record foreign investment due to its numerous trade accords, cheap labour and relative stability.
"The United States has announced it suspends the submission of TPP to the parliament so there are not sufficient conditions for Vietnam to submit its proposal for ratification," Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told the National Assembly. Post-US election responses by the Asian countries on the TPP varied, from suggestions by Malaysia that it would focus efforts on wrapping up a multi-nation trade pact led by China, and Japan trying to stick with the TPP and push ratification.