The US newspaper the Wall Street Journal has published an article on US Senator Max Baucus’s attitude over Vietnam’s “tra” and “basa” pangasius, saying that there's no reason for America to launch a trade war with Vietnam over fish.

“He's dead right about a trade issue now percolating in Washington, ” said the newspaper on July 14.

The article, entitled “Max Baucus's Fish Sense - Protectionism often hurts the protectionist”, outlined this controversial topic in Washington and underlined the possibility that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) could effectively ban imports of pangasius fish from Vietnam, which are similar to US-produced catfish.

The ostensible reason for the move would be food safety and the USDA is considering whether Vietnamese fish should be subject to a stricter safety inspection regime. However, the article said that there have been no reported cases of Vietnamese fish making American consumers sick and the proposed inspections would be onerous.

It quoted US Senator Max Baucus as telling the “Congress Daily” that “If we expect other countries to follow the rules and drop these restrictions, it is critical that we play by the rules and do not block imports for arbitrary or unscientific reasons."

The US Senator fears that a US ban on Vietnamese pangasius would spur Hanoi into a retaliatory ban on US beef./.