Hinds Today

U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) recently signed a letter in defense of American jobs, including Mississippi’s farm-raised catfish industry, opposing a U.S. Department of Commerce review that could grant market economy status to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Hyde-Smith, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, joined several colleagues led by U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) in signing the letter addressed to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The Senators urged that Vietnam not be granted market economy status, as it is currently designated as a non-market economy.

“I simply do not agree with the Biden administration’s inclination to favor Vietnam in ways that would negatively affect U.S. national security and domestic industries,” Hyde-Smith stated. “For us in Mississippi, giving Vietnam market economy status would cause the U.S. farm-raised catfish industry tremendous harm. We would be turning a blind eye to its government-led market manipulation and making it easier for subsidized Vietnamese catfish to flood into our country.”

Non-market economies face additional U.S. sanctions due to government intervention, often seen in totalitarian and communist regimes like Vietnam's. The Commerce Department is currently reviewing Vietnam’s request for market economy status.

In their letter to Raimondo, the Senators argued against granting this status to Vietnam.

“This administration may nevertheless believe that granting market economy status, despite the overwhelming evidence, would advance American interests by drawing Vietnam out of China’s sphere of influence and into ours," they wrote. "However, there is no evidence that Vietnam will change its diplomatic or military policies regarding China in exchange for greater market access. Vietnam already enjoys a goods trade surplus of over $100 billion a year with the United States yet continues to forge closer relations with the People’s Republic of China."

The Senators concluded by emphasizing the mandate of the Commerce Department: “The U.S. Department of Commerce has a mandate to advance and promote America’s interests, not to undermine our industries in pursuit of a misguided geopolitical strategy. We urge you to honor this mandate and continue to treat Vietnam as a non-market economy.”

Earlier this year, Hyde-Smith led an effort convincing the Commerce Department to reverse a preliminary decision that would have significantly reduced antidumping duties on imported catfish from companies controlled by the Vietnamese government.