The U.S. Trade Representative launched a Section 301 investigation into Vietnam's intellectual property protection and enforcement practices, Reuters reported on May 29. Vietnam responded by reaffirming its commitment to intellectual property protection and touting recent enforcement results, including more than 1,400 infringement cases handled in the past three weeks and criminal proceedings launched in dozens of cases, Bloomberg reported separately on June 1.

The probe follows Washington's April 30 designation of Vietnam as a priority foreign country over intellectual property concerns, which automatically required the USTR to decide within 30 days whether to open a Section 301 investigation. It also comes as Vietnam is negotiating with Washington over trade issues amid a massive and growing U.S. goods deficit with Vietnam and continued U.S. concerns over counterfeit goods, online piracy and weak deterrence.