In an effort to avoid U.S. tariffs, Vietnam is pledging to strengthen its logging regulations and buy more American lumber, Bloomberg reports.
The vow follows an investigation by the office of the U.S. Trade Representative into Vietnam’s wood industry for allegedly importing illegally logged or traded timber.
The USTR also launched an investigation into Vietnam’s currency practices and concluded in a Jan. 15 report that the country has been manipulating its currency to achieve trade advantages.
“Unfair acts, policies and practices that contribute to currency undervaluation harm U.S. workers and businesses, and need to be addressed,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement. “I hope that the United States and Vietnam can find a path for addressing our concerns.”
The U.S. is the largest market for Vietnamese wood products, representing an estimated $6.5 billion in 2020, approximately half of all of Vietnam’s agricultural shipments to America last year, according to Bloomberg.
Vietnam's timber industry has seen rapid growth in recent years. Wood flooring industry leaders predicted the shift of wood manufacturing plants to Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia after the U.S. imposed tariffs on hardwood flooring products from China in 2018.
