(VOVworld) – The US Department of Commerce’s final decision on anti-subsidy duties on frozen shrimp imported from Vietnam has angered Vietnamese and American fishery companies.

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Nguyen Van Kich, General Director of the Cafatex Fishery Company that exports frozen shrimp, says Vietnamese enterprises operate under a market mechanism. Kich says they have neither received a government subsidy for their business nor a special fund for the shrimp sector for several years. "The husbandry sector including the shrimp sector has not been subsidized by the government. The farmers have to pay for everything. The DOC’s decision harms farmers’ lives. It’s an unfair decision."

Nguyen Van Nhiem is President of the My Thanh Shrimp Association in the southern province of Soc Trang. "The tariffs target shrimp raisers. We are already facing hardships caused by climate change and environmental degradation."

In the lastest hearing of the Coalition of the Gulf Shrimp Industry (COGSI) on farm-raised shrimp imported from Vietnam and several other countries on Wednesday, many American enterprises opposed the anti-subsidy duties. Eric Buckner, Fishery Manager of Sysco group, one of the biggest shrimp suppliers in the US, said Sysco clearly identifies imported farm-raised shrimp, natural shrimp, and their origins. He insisted that farm-raised and natural shrimp are different types of products for different customers. They cannot compete with each other. Guy Pizzuti, Fishery Manager of Publix Super Markets, one of the top 10 supermarket chains in the US, said that he has never considered farm-raised and natural shrimp to be direct competitors. His company has different marketing and distribution strategies for each product, while their suppliers of the two types of products have not competed with each other.        

Jeff Stern, Vice President of the Censea Fishery Company, said his company has bought very little from American shrimp suppliers who cannot guarantee the required volume and quality. He said the ultimate task is to guarantee stable supply, quality, and sizes. The US National Fisheries Institute said on its website that the US shrimp industry needs to seek long-term measures to maintain its competitiveness, rather than appealing to the government to impose anti-dumping or anti-subsidy tariffs on imported products.