Therefore, Vietnamese businesses should use legal software when exporting to the US market. If not, they will lose market share and business opportunities in the market.

Many states in the US have approved the UCA, asking international manufacturers and exporters to use information technology, with both legal hardware and software in production and trade activities. The use of illegal software products is beneficial to manufacturers in terms of input costs but unfair for competitors using legal software products, they said.

According to trade experts from VCCI, the new law will make an impact on commodities imported to the US market from Asia including Vietnam. However, the law will also open up a huge opportunity for Vietnamese manufacturers to sharpen their competitive edge.

Pham Thi Thu Hang, Secretary General of VCCI, said selling products at low prices will be an advantage for Vietnamese exporters. To reduce production costs, businesses can make a choice between the use of cheap imported materials and unskilled workers and the use of hardware and software products without paying money for copyright.

However, in the long term, low-cost products will not help enterprises penetrate high-end markets where customers are willing to pay for high quality products and services. In addition, the use of hardware and software products without copyright will make Vietnamese businesses lower their competitiveness in major markets such as the US, Japan and Europe.

Ms Hang said that government agencies and international organizations should provide Vietnam’s business community, especially export businesses, with IT solutions as well as useful information about their rights and obligations so that they can join global economic groups.

Doan Tu Tich Phuoc from the Vietnam Competition Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that the UCA will improve the competitiveness of businesses using legal IT software in all their activities. He added that those businesses which abide by Vietnam’s Law on Copyright will not be affected by the UCA but receive international support instead.

Therefore, IT and law experts advised US-bound exporters to examine and use legal software. Tran Manh Hung, director of the Intellectual Property Department of the US law firm, Baker & McKenzie Vietnam, said that US importers will tighten control of imported goods to ensure that their foreign partners will obey regulations on granting software licenses for production contracts.