U.S. shrimp farmers latest challenge to relations with Vietnam
U.S. shrimp farmers latest challenge to relations with Vietnam
Agence France-Presse
Hanoi
Vietnam has condemned moves by the U.S. shrimp industry to
consider anti-dumping action against its seafood exporters, in
the latest challenge to bilateral trade relations between the two
former military foes.
U.S. fishermen and officials from eight southern and eastern
seaboard states met last week to mull a lawsuit against up to 16
countries, claiming they were selling their shrimp exports in the
United States at below market prices.
The shrimpers are to announce within the next two weeks if
they will initiate legal action against Vietnam, China, Thailand
-- the world's largest shrimp producer -- and other Central and
Southern American countries.
They claim that increasing quantities of imported pond-raised
marine crustaceans have prompted a large decline in the price
processing companies are paying for wild shrimp caught in U.S.
waters.
If successful, new tariffs could be imposed on imported
shrimp, which could be the first step towards import quotas.
The dumping accusations follow hot on the heels of legal
action taken by U.S. catfish farmers against their Vietnamese
counterparts in the first major spat since their landmark,
tariff-slashing bilateral trade agreement came into force in
December last year.
Nguyen Huu Dung, general secretary of the Vietnamese
Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP), rejected
accusations by the U.S. shrimp industry that Vietnamese exports
had caused material damage to their market.
"They are totally unjustified in saying that Vietnamese
producers have dumped their shrimps on the US market," he told
AFP. "Our shrimps are sold at a higher price than those from many
other countries."
His comments were echoed by foreign ministry spokeswoman Phan
Thuy Thanh.
"There are many countries selling shrimp into the American
market. I can categorically say that Vietnam never dumps its
shrimps. They are sold at market price," she told reporters on
Thursday.
The United States was Vietnam's largest shrimp export market
last year, accepting 27,200 tons of the tasty crustaceans worth
US$317 million, and accounting for 43 percent of the Vietnam's
total shrimp exports.
Japan, Vietnam's second biggest importer, purchased $268.5
million worth of the country's largest fisheries product,
according to VASEP.
Vietnam netted seafood exports of $1.8 billion in 2001.
Analysts say that both the U.S. catfish and shrimp industries
are using Vietnam and other developing countries as a scapegoat
for their woes as they battle the impact of global recession.