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CATFISH FARMERS OF AMERICA APPLAUD FINAL ANTIDUMPING RULING
INDIANOLA, Miss. -- The Catfish Farmers of America today welcomed the U.S. International Trade Commission's final affirmative determination that the domestic frozen catfish fillet industry has been materially injured or is threatened with material injury due to imports of frozen basa and tra fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. As a result of the ITC's final affirmative ruling, an antidumping duty order will be issued and Customs will collect estimated antidumping duties on all imports of Vietnamese frozen fish fillets of the pangasius bocourti, pangasius hypophthalmus, and pangasius micronemus species, also referred to as basa, tra, and swai. "We are pleased and gratified by the Commission's decision," said Hugh Warren, Executive Vice President of the Catfish Farmers of America. "We welcome fairly traded imports and fair competition from all sources, but unfair trading practices cannot be tolerated. We are pleased that our laws have been properly applied to provide the U.S. farm-raised catfish industry with much needed relief from unfair trading practices." The Catfish Farmers of America, on behalf of its individual processor and farmer members, and eight individual U.S. catfish processors filed an antidumping petition with the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce on June 28, 2002. On June 23, 2003, the Department of Commerce issued a final determination that certain frozen fish fillets from Vietnam have been sold in the United States at less than fair value. Prices of frozen fish fillets from Vietnam were found to be below fair value by 36.84percent to 63.88 percent. The U.S. farm-raised catfish industry employs more than 13,000 workers, including many family farmers, in Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and nine other states. Catfish farming is the largest aquaculture industry in the United States.
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