Initiation of Section 301 Investigation and Request for Public Comments: Vietnam's Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement

• Citation: 91 FR 33285
• Published date: 03 June 2026
• FR Document: 2026-11043
• Pages: 33285-33287
• Section: Notices
• Issuer: Trade Representative Office of the United States

33285

Federal Register / Vol. 91, No. 106 / Wednesday, June 3, 2026 / Notices

revenues from this transaction will not

exceed $5 million and will not exceed

those that would qualify it as a Class III

carrier.

The earliest this transaction may be

consummated is June 17, 2026, the

effective date of the exemption (30 days

after the verified notice was filed).

If the notice contains false or

misleading information, the exemption

is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d)

may be filed at any time. The filing of

a petition to revoke will not

automatically stay the effectiveness of

the exemption. Petitions to stay must be

filed no later than June 10, 2026 (at least

seven days before the exemption

becomes effective).

All pleadings, referring to Docket No.

FD 36919, should be filed with the

Surface Transportation Board either via

e-filing on the Board’s website or in

writing addressed to 395 E Street SW,

Washington, DC 20423–0001. In

addition, a copy of each pleading must

be served on GVSR’s representative,

Justin J. Marks, Clark Hill PLC, 1001

Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 1300

South, Washington, DC 20004.

According to GVSR, this action is

categorically excluded from

environmental review under 49 CFR

1105.6(c) and from historic reporting

under 49 CFR 1105.8(b).

Board decisions and notices are

available at www.stb.gov.

Decided: May 29, 2026.

By the Board, Anika S. Cooper, Chief

Counsel, Office of Chief Counsel.

Jeffrey Herzig,

Clearance Clerk.

[FR Doc. 2026–11041 Filed 6–2–26; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket No. USTR–2026–0364]

Initiation of Section 301 Investigation

and Request for Public Comments:

Vietnam’s Acts, Policies, and Practices

Related to Intellectual Property

Protection and Enforcement

AGENCY

: Office of the United States

Trade Representative (USTR).

ACTION

: Initiation of investigation;

proposed determination; and request for

comments.

SUMMARY

: Pursuant to section 182(a)(2)

of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended

(Trade Act), the U.S. Trade

Representative (Trade Representative)

identified Vietnam as a priority foreign

country due to Vietnam’s denial of

adequate and effective protection of

intellectual property (IP) rights and its

denial of fair and equitable market

access to persons that rely on IP

protection. Pursuant to section 302(b)(2)

of the Trade Act, the Trade

Representative is initiating a Section

301 investigation of the acts, policies,

and practices of the Government of

Vietnam related to IP protection and

enforcement that resulted in the

identification of Vietnam as a priority

foreign country. The Office of the U.S.

Trade Representative (USTR) proposes

to determine that these acts, policies,

and practices are actionable under

section 301(b). USTR invites interested

persons to submit written comments

concerning the issues covered in the

investigation.

DATES

:

April 30, 2026: The Trade

Representative identified Vietnam as a

priority foreign country in the 2026

Special 301 Report.

May 29, 2026: The Trade

Representative initiated a Section 301

investigation.

May 29, 2026: USTR will open the

docket for submission of written

comments.

July 2, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. EDT: To be

assured of consideration, submit written

comments by this date.

ADDRESSES

: Submit documents in

response to this notice through the

online USTR portal: https://

comments.ustr.gov/s/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

: For

procedural questions concerning

comments, contact the USTR Section

301 support line at (202) 395–5725.

Direct all other questions regarding this

notice to Megan Grimball, Chair of the

Section 301 Committee, or Christina

Olson, Senior Associate General

Counsel, at (202) 395–5725.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

:

I. Identification of Vietnam as a Priority

Foreign Country

Section 182 of the Trade Act (19

U.S.C. 2242) (‘‘Special 301’’) authorizes

the Trade Representative to identify

foreign countries that deny adequate

and effective protection of IP rights or

that deny fair and equitable market

access to persons that rely on IP

protection. In making Special 301

determinations, USTR chairs the Special

301 committee of the statutory,

interagency Trade Policy Staff

Committee (TPSC), which reviews

information from many sources,

including written submissions from the

public and a public hearing, and makes

recommendations to the Trade

Representative on Special 301 country

identifications.

Under section 182(b) of the Trade Act

(19 U.S.C 2242), the Trade

Representative shall only identify as

‘‘priority foreign countries’’ those

foreign countries (1) that ‘‘have the most

onerous or egregious acts, policies, or

practices’’; (2) whose acts, policies, and

practices ‘‘have the greatest adverse

impact (actual or potential) on the

relevant United States products’’; and

(3) that ‘‘are not entering into good faith

negotiations, or making significant

progress in bilateral or multilateral

negotiations,’’ to provide adequate and

effective protection for IP rights. Section

182 provides that identification of

priority foreign countries shall take into

account the history of IP laws and

practices of the foreign country,

including any previous identifications

as a priority foreign country, and the

history of efforts of the United States to

achieve adequate and effective

protection and enforcement of IP rights.

In the April 30, 2026, Special 301

Report, the Trade Representative

identified Vietnam as a priority foreign

country. The 2026 Special 301 review

found that Vietnam has demonstrated a

persistent failure to resolve long-

standing concerns about IP protection

and enforcement. USTR first

approached Vietnam in 2020 with a

proposal for an IP Work Plan to address

issues identified in the 2020 Special 301

Report, which Vietnam minimally

engaged on. USTR supplemented its

outreach to address these long-standing

IP protection and enforcement concerns

by sending Vietnam a revised IP Work

Plan proposal in 2023. However,

Vietnam failed to make meaningful

progress on these issues in subsequent

bilateral engagement, as well as in

recent negotiations for an Agreement on

Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade.

The 2026 Special 301 Report also finds

that Vietnam’s weak IP protection and

enforcement harms the industries

reliant on IP protection both in

Vietnam’s market and in other markets

as well.

A full discussion of the basis for

Vietnam’s designation as a priority

foreign country is set out in the April

30, 2026, Special 301 Report, which

may be found at https://ustr.gov/sites/

default/files/files/Press/Releases/2026/

2026%20Special

%20301%20Report.pdf. A summary of

the basis for identification is set out

below.

The first ground for the Trade

Representative’s identification of

Vietnam as a priority foreign country is

the failure to provide persistent and

effective enforcement to combat online

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piracy. The United States has repeatedly

raised strong concerns about Vietnam’s

role in online piracy worldwide.

Vietnam remains a significant source of

online piracy and continues to host

popular English-language copyright

infringement sites and services that

target a global audience. Some of these

sites provide piracy services, including

extensive libraries of pirated movies and

TV shows. A locally popular

cyberlocker offering such services

operates within Vietnam. The operators

of these sites and services likely based

themselves in Vietnam because

Vietnam’s IP enforcement efforts have

historically lacked the follow-through

and substantial penalties needed to

deter infringement. Stakeholders report

that Vietnam has the highest incidence

of online piracy in the Asia-Pacific

region, has high levels of music piracy,

and is ranked eighth in the world for

piracy of certain mobile video games.

Despite Vietnam having criminal laws

that provide for substantial fines and

years of incarceration for copyright

infringement, the defendants in recent

criminal prosecutions received

suspended sentences and were only

ordered to pay relatively low financial

penalties. Other obstacles to effective

criminal enforcement in Vietnam

include the lack of clarity regarding the

threshold for criminal enforcement

under amendments to the 2015 Penal

Code, including the proof required to

meet that threshold, and regarding how

to handle intangible evidence, such as

digital assets and domain names.

Vietnam’s continued reliance on

administrative enforcement actions over

civil or criminal enforcement has been

another long-standing concern,

particularly as administrative

enforcement does not have the same

deterrent effect as civil remedies and

criminal penalties. Right holders face

informal pressure from enforcement

authorities to submit complaints for

administrative enforcement proceedings

instead of directly pursuing civil

enforcement or obtaining a referral for

criminal enforcement.

The second ground for Vietnam’s

identification as a priority foreign

country is the failure to provide

sufficient enforcement against

widespread counterfeiting. Counterfeit

goods—both locally manufactured and

imported—remain widely available and

openly sold in physical markets, which

persist in major urban and tourist

centers. Counterfeit goods are

widespread and increasingly sold

through e-commerce platforms and

through the use of livestream videos.

Stakeholders report the dangerous

spread of fraudulent listings on e-

commerce platforms for counterfeit

products with health and safety risks,

such as counterfeit milk, food, and

supplements.

In 2025, Vietnam underwent a

significant reorganization of its

government, and stakeholders report

that this transition has resulted in gaps

in enforcement that counterfeit sellers

have exploited. Even with multiple

enforcement campaigns, administrative

enforcement in physical markets and

online markets decreased in 2025, with

the number of violations found by

Vietnamese authorities involving IP-

infringing goods and goods of unknown

origin or inferior quality declining by 50

percent compared to 2024. Vietnam’s

continued reliance on administrative

enforcement actions over civil or

criminal enforcement has been a long-

standing concern, particularly as

administrative enforcement does not

have the same deterrent effect as civil

remedies and criminal penalties. Weak

enforcement against counterfeiting has

also been due to poor coordination

among ministries and agencies

responsible for enforcement, delays in

initiating enforcement actions, and the

lack of familiarity with trademark law

among police, prosecutors, and judges.

The third ground for Vietnam’s

identification is the lack of effective

border enforcement, including failure to

utilize ex officio authority for IP

seizures and lack of ex officio authority

over in-transit goods. Vietnam’s

Department of Customs has

demonstrated a lack of consistency in

enforcement at the border over the

years, and some stakeholders report a

lack of transparency and

communication. Notably, the

Department of Customs has possessed

ex officio authority to suspend customs

procedures for suspected pirated and

counterfeit goods at the border since the

2022 amendments to the Intellectual

Property Law but has rarely exercised

that authority. Moreover, Vietnam’s

laws and decrees do not provide this

authority with respect to in-transit

goods.

The fourth ground is the lack of

enforcement actions against unlicensed

software use. Vietnam has been

recognized by stakeholders as a rapidly

growing technology hub in the region.

At the same time, Vietnamese

authorities reportedly have not

conducted significant enforcement

against the use of unlicensed software

by corporate end users in the past three

years. The lack of deterrence has

resulted in widespread use of

unlicensed software.

The fifth ground is the lack of

criminal measures against cable and

satellite signal theft. Although Article

35 of Vietnam’s Intellectual Property

Law was amended in 2022 to define

infringement of related rights with

respect to the unauthorized decoding of

encrypted program-carrying satellite

signals, the corresponding provision in

Vietnam’s Criminal Law has not been

amended to provide criminal penalties

with respect to such signals. The

Intellectual Property Law and Criminal

Law also do not expressly address cable

signal theft.

II. Initiation of Section 301

Investigation

Under Section 302(b)(2) of the Trade

Act (19 U.S.C. 2412(b)(2)), the Trade

Representative shall initiate an

investigation under Chapter 1 of Title III

of the Trade Act (commonly referred to

as ‘‘Section 301’’) with respect to any

act, policy, or practice that was the basis

of the identification of a country as a

priority foreign country under section

182 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2242).

Section 302(b)(2) provides exceptions

where such acts, policies, and practices

are already subject to investigation or

action under Section 301, or where an

investigation would not be in the

national economic interest.

Pursuant to Section 302(b)(2), and

taking into account the advice of the

Special 301 committee of the TPSC and

appropriate advisory committees, on

May 29, 2026, the Trade Representative

initiated a Section 301 investigation of

the acts, policies, and practices of

Vietnam related to IP protection and

enforcement that resulted in the priority

foreign country identification.

The investigation will examine

whether these acts, policies, and

practices of Vietnam are actionable

under section 301(b) of the Trade Act

(19 U.S.C. 2411(b)), and, if so, what

action the Trade Representative should

take under Section 301(b). Acts,

policies, or practices of a foreign

country are actionable under section

301(b) if they are unreasonable or

discriminatory, and burden or restrict

U.S. commerce. Under section

301(d)(3)(B)(i)(II) of the Trade Act (19

U.S.C. 2411(d)(3)(B)(i)(II)), unreasonable

acts, policies, or practices include any

act, policy, or practice which denies fair

and equitable provision of adequate and

effective protection of IP rights,

notwithstanding the fact that the foreign

country may be in compliance with the

specific obligations of the Agreement on

Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual

Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement).

Furthermore, under section

301(d)(3)(B)(i)(III) of the Trade Act (19

U.S.C. 2411(d)(3)(B)(i)(III)),

unreasonable acts, policies, or practices

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Federal Register / Vol. 91, No. 106 / Wednesday, June 3, 2026 / Notices

also include those which deny fair and

equitable nondiscriminatory market

access opportunities for persons that

rely upon IP protection.

Pursuant to Section 303(a) of the

Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2413(a)), USTR is

requesting consultations with the

Government of Vietnam. Because the

issues under investigation do not

involve a trade agreement, the request

for consultations does not involve

formal dispute settlement procedures

under a trade agreement.

If the Trade Representative

determines that unreasonable or

discriminatory acts, policies, and

practices exist that burden or restrict

U.S. commerce, the Trade

Representative also will determine

under Section 304(a)(1)(B) (19 U.S.C.

2414(a)(1)(B)) what action, if any, to

take.

Section 304(a)(3)(A) of the Trade Act

(19 U.S.C. 2414(a)(3)(A)) provides that

in an investigation initiated pursuant to

a priority foreign country designation,

and not involving a trade agreement, the

Trade Representative shall make the

determinations under section

304(a)(1)(A) and (B) no later than six

months after the date of initiation.

Under Section 304(a)(3)(B) (19 U.S.C.

2414(a)(3)(B)), in certain circumstances

the Trade Representative may extend

the investigation for an additional three

months.

III. Proposed Determination on

Actionability

In light of Vietnam’s persistent failure

to resolve long-standing concerns about

IP protection and enforcement, and its

identification as a priority foreign

country in the Special 301 process, the

Trade Representative proposes to

determine that the acts, policies, and

practices of the Government of Vietnam

related to IP protection and enforcement

that resulted in the identification of

Vietnam as a priority foreign country are

actionable under section 301(b) (19

U.S.C. 2411(b)).

IV. Request for Public Comments

USTR invites comments regarding:

•The acts, policies, and practices

described in Section I above.

•Information on other acts, policies,

and practices of Vietnam related to the

denial of adequate and effective

protection of IP rights and the denial of

fair and equitable market access to

persons that rely on IP protection.

•Whether the acts, policies, and

practices of Vietnam are unreasonable

or discriminatory.

•Whether the acts, policies, and

practices of Vietnam burden or restrict

U.S. commerce, and if so, the nature and

level of burden or restriction on U.S.

commerce.

•Whether the acts, policies, and

practices of Vietnam are actionable

under section 301(b) of the Trade Act,

and what action, if any, should be taken,

including tariff and non-tariff actions.

To be assured of consideration, USTR

must receive written comments by 11:59

p.m. EDT on July 2, 2026. Additional

instructions on how to submit written

comments are provided below in Part V.

V. Submissions Instructions

Interested persons must submit

written comments using the appropriate

docket on the portal at https://

comments.ustr.gov/s/. To make a

submission, use the docket on the portal

entitled ‘Request for Comments on the

Section 301 Investigation Regarding

Vietnam’s Identification as a Priority

Foreign Country,’ docket number

USTR–2026–0364.

You do not need to establish an

account to submit comments. The first

screen allows you to enter identification

and contact information. Third party

organizations such as law firms, trade

associations, or customs brokers should

identify the full legal name of the

organization they represent and identify

the primary point of contact for the

submission. Information fields are

optional. However, USTR may not

consider your comment if insufficient

information is provided. Fields with a

gray Business Confidential Information

(BCI) notation are for BCI information

that will not be made publicly available.

Fields with a green (Public) notation

will be viewable by the public. After

entering the identification and contact

information, you can complete the

remainder of the comment, or any

portion of it, by clicking ‘Next.’ You

may upload documents at the end of the

form and indicate whether USTR should

treat the documents as business

confidential or public information. Any

page containing BCI must be clearly

marked ‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’ on

the top of that page and the submission

should clearly indicate, via brackets,

highlighting, or other means, the

specific information that is BCI. If you

request business confidential treatment,

you must certify in writing that the

information would not customarily be

released to the public. Parties uploading

attachments containing BCI also must

submit a public version of their

comments. If these procedures are not

sufficient to protect BCI or otherwise

protect business interests, please contact

the USTR Section 301 support line at

(202) 395–5725 to discuss whether

alternative arrangements are possible.

USTR will post attachments uploaded to

the docket for public inspection, except

for properly designated BCI. You can

view submissions on USTR’s electronic

portal at https://comments.ustr.gov/s/.

Jennifer Thornton,

General Counsel, Office of the United States

Trade Representative.

[FR Doc. 2026–11043 Filed 6–2–26; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3390–F4–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA–2026–0199]

Parts and Accessories Necessary for

Safe Operation; Application for

Exemption From Truck-Lite Co. LLC

AGENCY

: Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Administration (FMCSA), Department

of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION

: Notice of final disposition; grant

of application for exemption.

SUMMARY

: The Federal Motor Carrier

Safety Administration (FMCSA)

announces its decision to grant Truck-

Lite Co. LLC’s (Truck-Lite) application

for a limited 5-year exemption to allow

motor carriers to install Truck-Lite and/

or sister company ECCO auxiliary amber

brake-activated pulsating lamps on the

rear of commercial motor vehicles

(CMVs) in addition to the steady-

burning brake lamps required by the

Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Regulations (FMCSRs). The Agency has

determined that granting the exemption

would likely achieve a level of safety

equivalent to or greater than the level of

safety provided by the regulation.

DATES

: The exemption is effective May

29, 2026 and expires June 3, 2031.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

: Mr.

Jose

´R. Cestero, Mechanical Engineer,

FMCSA Vehicle and Roadside

Operations Division, Office of Carrier,

Driver and Vehicle Safety Standards;

MCPSV@dot.gov. If you have any

questions on viewing or submitting

material to the docket, contact Docket

Services, telephone (202) 366–9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

:

I. Public Participation

Viewing Comments and Documents

To view any documents mentioned as

being available in the docket, go to

https://www.regulations.gov/docket/

FMCSA-2026-0199/document and

choose the document to review. To view

comments, click this notice, then click

‘‘Document Comments.’’ If you do not

have access to the internet, you may

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