Higgins calls for big tariffs on imported seafood

Another shot has been fired in the Shrimp Wars.
U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, St. Mary’s congressman, has asked President Donald J. Trump for tariffs and increased trade enforcement for seafood imports from Asia and South America.
Shrimpers in particular, members of an industry with deep economic and cultural roots in St. Mary, say they’re being devastated by high costs here and low-cost imports
Higgins delivered an official letter to the president seeking sanctions against imports from China, Ecuador, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
“Domestic shrimpers, fishermen and crawfish producers in Louisiana and across the country face significant challenges competing against foreign seafood industries that are heavily subsidized and engage in illegal dumping into the United States,” Higgins wrote. “These unrighteous trade practices artificially drive down prices, disrupt fair market conditions, and threaten the livelihoods of hardworking American seafood producers. Without strong and consistent intervention, our seafood industry will remain vulnerable to these illegal trade tactics that erode the competitive market.”
Higgins, R-Lafayette, asked Trump to use all available tools, including antidumping and countervailing duties stricter testing protocols, tariffs up to 100% and the destruction of imported seafood that fails to meet U.S. health standards.
The use of antibiotics in pond-raised seafood has been a major issue for the U.S. industry. Critics said the government tests too little seafood for the presence of antibiotics that can be unhealthy for human consumers.
“Representative Higgins has led the fight to get the [Food and Drug Administration] to destroy shrimp imports that violate our health standards,” said John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “American shrimpers are grateful to him for bringing the issue to President Trump’s attention and for proposing additional tariffs of up to 100 percent. We welcome Representative Higgins’s call to utilize tariffs and trade enforcement actions to level the playing field.”
The U.S. shrimp industry is facing a financial crisis, the alliance said. It quotes the federal fisheries officials as saying the total value of shrimp fishermen’s catch fell from $522 million in 2021 to $268 million in 2023 and remained close to this level in 2024.
“With nearly half of the value of the fishery wiped out in a short time frame, many multigenerational, family-owned small fishing businesses are failing,” the alliance said in a press release.
In 2024, the UFDA refused 81 entry lines of shrimp because of antibiotics, the most since 2016. A majority of these entry-line refusals involved shrimp exported from India (31) or Vietnam (18). Combined, India and Vietnam supplied about half of all U.S. shrimp imports (42.3% and 7.2% respectively). Farm-raised imported shrimp supply more than 90% of the total U.S. shrimp market, the alliance said.
Both the European Union and Japan also find India and Vietnam to be the largest offenders, the alliance said. But the volume of findings are less because the EU addresses the enhanced risk presented by shipments of contaminated Indian shrimp by requiring that 100% of all shipments be tested prior to exportation and that 50% of all shipments be tested at importation, which is destroyed if contaminated. The FDA tests 0.1% of seafood for contamination.