McCain, Shaheen Renew Objections to Catfish Import Restrictions

After the Vietnamese government asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) to discuss U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) restrictions on catfish imports, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer asking him to support repeal of the restrictions.

“Since its implementation, the USDA Catfish Inspection Program has done nothing more than erect a damaging trade barrier against Asian catfish imports to protect a handful of domestic catfish farmers in Southern states,” the senators wrote. “If the U.S. loses this latest WTO battle, it could negatively impact U.S. agriculture exports to Vietnam, including cotton, wheat, pork, soybeans, beef, poultry, eggs and fruit. Vietnam is one of our largest Asian trading partners and our 10th largest agricultural export market. Additionally, more than 525,000 American jobs directly rely on imported seafood.”

McCain and Shaheen have been critics of the catfish restrictions since at least 2013, calling them “duplicative” and “wasteful,” and in 2016 successfully persuaded the Senate to pass a Resolution of Disapproval of the USDA program.