On Nov. 21, the DOC officially announced that, following a review of the third six-month period of data from the monitoring programme of apparel imports from Vietnam , “there is insufficient evidence to warrant self-initiating an antidumping investigation.”

“This final investigation reveals that prices of Vietnamese apparel are in line with, and in most cases even exceed, other major suppliers, including Central America ,” the DOC said.

President of Vietnam Textile and Garment Association Le Quoc An said he hoped the DOC will now put an end to the programme “in time” to promote trade in textiles and garments between the two countries.

The program commenced upon Vietnam ’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in January 2007 under pressure from a number of US congressmen and textile firms.

Despite the monitoring programme, Vietnam shipped almost 4 billion USD of textiles and garments to the US during the first 9 months of 2008, a 22.9 percent increase over the same period last year, making it the US ’s second largest clothing supplier after China.