Findings

Congress finds the following: (1) The relationship between the United States and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has grown substantially since the end of the trade embargo in 1994, with annual trade between the countries reaching $124,000,000,000 in 2023. (2) Expanded economic activity and trade between the United States and Vietnam, has not been matched by greater political freedom or substantial improvements in basic human rights for the people of Vietnam. (3) Vietnam remains an authoritarian state ruled by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) which continues to expand cooperation with the Communist Party of China (CCP) for example recently joining General Secretary Xi Jinping’s anti-United States Community of Common Destiny. (4) According to the Department of State, the Government of Vietnam engaged the arbitrary arrest of political activists and individuals who protested land seizures or other matters deemed politically sensitive and detained at least 187 persons for political or human rights activism.