Fish-Dumping Claim Rejected by Vietnamese

U.S. catfish farmers’ claims that Vietnam is selling fish in America below cost are an attempt to sabotage relations between the former enemies, a Vietnam government spokeswoman said.

President Bush in May signed a law that forced Vietnam to stop calling fish it exports to the U.S. “catfish.” Now the U.S. International Trade Commission will investigate claims that the fish that Vietnam relabeled as “tra” and “basa” is being dumped, or sold for less than fair market value.

“Slanderous claims that Vietnamese enterprises are selling tra and basa catfish to the U.S. market at dumping prices are absolutely baseless,” Vietnam Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said at a news conference.

The new dispute threatens to revive trade tension less than a year after an accord on business between the countries took effect.

The law Bush signed in May was aimed at shielding U.S. catfish producers from cheaper Vietnamese products. It permits only a specific North American fish variety to be labeled “catfish.”

Vietnam’s exports of the product resumed under new labels, and the Catfish Farmers of America then called for an anti-dumping investigation in a petition filed June 28.

The U.S. International Trade Commission must report the conclusions of its investigation to the Department of Commerce by Aug. 19. It has scheduled a July 19 hearing on the petition.