Article Forcing change from the outside? The role of trade-labour linkages in transforming Vietnam’s labour regime Angie N Tran California State University, Monterey Bay, CA, USA Jennifer Bair University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA Marion Werner University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY, USA Abstract Do trade-labour linkages improve the conditions and rights of workers in low-wage countries? We consider this question in Vietnam, a market economy with socialist orientation that has seen rapid growth in export manufacturing and foreign direct investment, while signing regional trade agreements, which include labour rights provisions, with high-income trading partners. Our paper focuses on two such agreements – the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement. We ask how, if at all, these negotiations have influenced changes in Vietnam’s labour regime, particularly regarding the representation and participation of workers in the country’s system of industrial relations. Comparing binding and nonbinding provisions, we find that the effects of trade-labour linkages are mediated by their enforceability, and prospects for strengthening associ- ational rights are improved by the possibility of commercial sanction. Overall, we find that gains for workers in Vietnam continue to be made by collective action, despite a context hostile to freedom of association, and that external influences to improve labour standards and conditions have had a min- imal effect. Keywords Freedom of association, labour laws, labour standards, regional trade agreements, trade-labour linkage, Vietnam Corresponding author: Angie N Tran, School of Social, Behavioral, and Global Studies, California State University, Monterey Bay, 100 Campus Center, Seaside, CA 93955-8001, USA. Email: atran@csumb.edu Competition & Change 2017, Vol. 21(5) 397–416 ! The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1024529417729326 journals.sagepub.com/home/cch