U.S. Shrimpers Respond to the Supreme Court Ruling on Tariffs

Southern Shrimp Alliance urges swift implementation of alternative tariff authorities

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL, UNITED STATES, February 21, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA), representing the U.S. shrimp industry, welcomes the Trump Administration's rapid pursuit of alternative tariff mechanisms following the Supreme Court's disappointing ruling against tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). For multigenerational shrimping families, addressing the flood of unethically produced shrimp remains an emergency. Counterproductive trade policies threaten America’s ability to access sustainable sources of healthy seafood. SSA, which welcomed IEEPA tariffs as a crucial lifeline, urges swift implementation of new trade relief for the U.S. shrimp industry.

The United States Trade Representative announced that the Trump Administration will initiate several investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to address unjustifiable, unreasonable, discriminatory, and burdensome trade practices by major trading partners — explicitly including practices related to the trade in seafood. The use of banned antibiotics, forced labor, and environmental harms in the supply chains of the largest shrimp aquaculture-producing countries undermines U.S. workers.

"President Trump has shown a consistent and unwavering commitment to addressing the unfair trade practices that have devastated American workers and undermined our food security," said Blake Price, director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. "We are encouraged that the Administration moved immediately to preserve its trade enforcement authority through alternative mechanisms."

For the U.S. shrimp industry, urgency is not optional. The industry has lost more than 50 percent of its value in recent years to a flood of unethically traded shrimp imports. Recent tariffs on shrimp imports have enabled American shrimpers to return to work after years of devastating losses, and any gap in enforcement could set the industry back irreparably.

"Had we gone another season without President Trump’s action under IEEPA, there would be few American shrimpers left. Unfair shrimp trade has major consequences for the infrastructure that supports many fisheries and our nation’s ability to produce healthy seafood," Price said.

Duty Refunds Would Turn Lifeline into an Anchor

The potential refund of tariffs already collected under IEEPA looms over the U.S. shrimp industry. Foreign shrimp companies — not American businesses or consumers — have paid over half a billion dollars in IEEPA duties, and refunding those payments would amount to a massive cash infusion for the very competitors who flooded the U.S. market before duties were imposed. SSA notes with relief that President Trump acknowledged at his February 20 press conference that the question of refunds remains legally unclear and could be subject to further litigation.

"Our legal system should never extend stronger protections to the foreign competitors who decimated American fishermen than it extends to the Americans themselves," said Price. "The U.S. federal government provided no assistance to the thousands of American families whose livelihoods were wiped out due to unfair trade. Our shrimp industry absorbed a loss of over half a billion dollars as unethically produced shrimp—those produced using economic shortcuts that fail to meet U.S. food safety, labor, and environmental standards—were eagerly imported and sold to U.S. consumers."

The Positive Effects of Tariffs

Under IEEPA tariffs, shrimp import values increased 6.5 percent between January and October 2025 but remain below historical averages from the prior decade, even without adjusting for inflation. Imported volumes also increased over the same period, underscoring the importance of maintaining meaningful trade enforcement going forward.

IEEPA tariffs are one part of a broader set of actions President Trump has taken on behalf of American seafood producers. The President has also signed an Executive Order Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness, and under his leadership, the United States opposed for the first time ever, funding a foreign shrimp aquaculture project through an international financial institution.

"We will be watching the Section 301 process closely and supporting the Administration in its efforts," Price said. "If those investigations confirm what our industry has experienced firsthand, tariff action is not only warranted, it is essential."

About the Southern Shrimp Alliance

The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) is an organization of shrimp fishermen, shrimp processors, and other members of the American shrimp industry in the eight warmwater shrimp-producing states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.

Deborah Long
Southern Shrimp Alliance
+1 804-360-0074
deborah@cohesivecommunications.com
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