{ "error": "", "type": "text", "title": "US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Gala Dinner", "slug": "may-2017-us-trade-representative-robert-lighthizer-at-the-u-s-chamber-of-commerce-gala-dinner", "text": "
\"As the Trump Administration begins to advance its agenda for free and fair trade, [Vietnamese] Prime Minister [Nguyen Xuan] Phuc\u2019s<\/strong> visit to Washington is a timely and important opportunity for our two countries to reflect on the impressive growth of our bilateral relationship over the past two decades. Working closely together, our trade and investment ties have grown significantly since we normalized relations in 1995. In 2001, we signed a Bilateral Trade Agreement to serve as a roadmap for increased cooperation on economic reforms in Vietnam. The United States and Vietnam worked together to fulfill those commitments, which served as a stepping-stone towards Vietnam\u2019s WTO accession. And in January 2007, Vietnam became the WTO\u2019s 150th member. That year we also began to further strengthen our ties through a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement. We have made significant progress since then in trade in goods, agriculture sales, and services. Yet, we still have a lot of work to do. Over the last decade, our bilateral trade deficit has risen from about $7 billion to nearly $32 billion. This concerning growth in our trade deficit presents new challenges and shows us that there is considerable potential to improve further our important trade relationship.\" <\/p>", "quote": null, "citation": "