(VOVworld) - The US Department of Commerce (DOC)’s International Trade Administration (ITA) will decide whether it will continue its anti-subsidy lawsuit against frozen warm-water shrimp imported from Vietnam and some other countries. Speaking to a VOV correspondent in the US, Mathew McConkey of the Mayer Brown Law Firm, which represents the defendants in this lawsuit, said: “They don’t compete. They’re very different products that are most purchased in America, don’t consider wild shrimp and farm shrimp competitors. The competition comes between shrimp from Vietnam that’s farmed and shrimp from Indonesia that’s farmed and shrimp from China that’s farmed. That’s where the competition is. They’re not competing with American shrimp. So we’ve made that legal argument for Vietnamese shrimp or any other shrimp being imported into America, to economically injure the US industry. Therefore, this case should stop”

Mr. McConkey said that in this lawsuit, Vietnam has some advantages because Vietnam has quickly completed related legal procedures and has good experience in dealing with anti-subsidy cases. He said Vietnamese shrimp is most sought after in the US and the US shrimp industry can only meet 6 to 10% of domestic demand. According to Mc Conkey, the anti-subsidy law aims to protect US production industries and is a means of trade protection. The imposition of higher tariffs on imported shrimp will affect American consumers.

On January 18, the US Department of Commerce announced an investigation of the anti-subsidy lawsuit against Vietnamese frozen warm-water shrimp filed by the Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries, claiming unfair competition by imported shrimp.