The reason Vietnam will continue to take a stronger stance on intellectual property rights

The USTR just announced the Special 301 Report 2026, in which Vietnam is classified as a Priority Foreign Country - PFC, the highest warning level for IP protection and enforcement.
For the first time in 13 years, the U.S. has placed a trade partner in this group (the last was Ukraine).
USTR provides the basis for ranking Vietnam on this list:
- Not sufficiently and consistently enforcing online copyright violations
- Not adequately addressing counterfeit goods and trademark infringement
- Ineffective border enforcement
- Lack of action against companies using unlicensed software
- Lack of criminal sanctions for illegal cable/satellite signal theft
USTR said it will decide within 30 days whether to initiate a Section 301 investigation into Vietnam.
If USTR launches a Section 301 investigation, the copyright issue could become an official trade investigation.
The copyright story is just an excuse for the U.S. to impose additional tariffs and pressure Vietnam’s export industries.
Precedent with China, the U.S. also uses intellectual property, technology transfer, and unfair competition as pretexts to impose sanctions on Beijing.
The U.S. only needs a reason to start increasing pressure, with the argument that Vietnam is benefiting greatly from the U.S. market but not adequately protecting American economic interests.
Difficult for Vietnam.