US House nears vote on crucial Vietnam trade bill

WASHINGTON, Nov 11 (Reuters) The House of Representatives was set to approve permanent normal trade relations with Vietnam next week, but a Senate vote may not take place until December, congressional aides said.

House members were expected to pass the trade bill on Monday, shortly before President George W Bush heads to Vietnam for the annual APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) meeting.

The bill would be the last step in normalizing trade relations between the former enemies. The two countries normalized diplomatic relations in 1995, 20 years after the end of the war.

Congress must approve PNTR for US businesses to receive the market-opening benefits of Vietnam's entry into the World Trade Organization, which is scheduled to happen next month.

With Democrats set to take over the 110th Congress in January, the Vietnam vote tests their willingness to stay engaged with Asian trading partners, said Grant Aldonas, a trade expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

''It is very, very important that we press and see action by Congress in advance of the summit,'' Aldonas said yesterday.

In the Senate, a Florida Republican is the biggest obstacle to approval of PNTR before Bush gets to Hanoi.

Sen. Mel Martinez has been blocking a vote on the bill in order to prod Vietnam into releasing one of his constituents charged with plotting violence against the communist-run government.

Yesterday Vietnamese judge sentenced Thuong Nguyen Foshee and two other Vietnamese-born US citizens to 15 months in prison -- including the 14 months they already have served -- and ordered them to be expelled within 10 days of finishing their jail terms.

That move appears to clear the way for Foshee to be back in the United States in December. Martinez said he would not be satisfied until Foshee is back on US soil.

''As that has not yet occurred, I continue to use every tool at my disposal. I feel the administration is working diligently and at the highest levels of the State Department to resolve this issue and remain hopeful the Vietnamese government will do the right thing,'' he said in a statement.

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