US Senators Roger Wicker and Thad Cochran. (Photo: StockFile)

Senators ask DOC to help catfish farmers

US Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker from Mississippi have said that farmed catfish producers in states including Mississippi are suffering because the US Department of Commerce (DOC) is acting insufficiently to stop a flood of cheaper fish imports.

The Senators wrote a letter -- which was signed by eight Senators -- addressed to acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank urging her to enforce an antidumping order against Vietnamese frozen fillets. The letter condemns the Commerce Department’s handling of the Vietnamese pangasius frozen fillet antidumping case and the consequent “surge in the volume of low-priced imports.”

“The precipitous decline of the American catfish industry can be directly linked to Commerce Department actions that have allowed the US market to be flooded with imported alternatives. Mississippi catfish producers and the people they employ deserve fair treatment from this administration. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case right now,” Cochran accused.

Wicker asserted that DOC should use all available tools to prevent unfair imports, as US producers deserve to compete with fair competition.

The letter notes that Vietnamese imports have tripled since 2008 and now account for more than 75 per cent of the US market, and that US Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics regarding the market share maintained by US catfish producers has dropped from 80 to 20 per cent since an antidumping case was filed. 

Other evidence cited includes the following points:

•   In 2007, US catfish farming covered almost 164,000 water ac; by January 2013, acreage totaled only 83,020 water ac.
•   In 2007, US catfish processors sold about 104 million lb of frozen fillets; by 2012 that number had fallen to just over 67 million lb, by more than 35 per cent.

“This decline correlates directly with the change in the Commerce Department’s approach in the antidumping case and the resulting flood of low-priced Vietnamese imports. Unfortunately, these imports are impacting the most vulnerable members of our society,” the Senators wrote.

They pointed out that many catfish processors -- who are sometimes the largest employers in their community -- work in regions riddled with poverty and higher-than-usual unemployment rates.

“US trade laws enjoy the strong support of Congress because they serve the invaluable role of ensuring a level playing field for US producers and workers who must compete in markets that benefit from the most commercially open borders in the world. Without the strong enforcement of these trade laws, American companies would face a significant disadvantage when competing with unfairly subsidized or dumped imports,” the letter adds.

Related article:

- Catfish farmers continue to struggle with imports and higher prices

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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