U.S. commercial shrimp fishermen, supported by the Southern Shrimp Alliance, filed a trade action today to end imports of Indian shrimp produced through the reprehensible use of forced labor. The Section 337 complaint asks the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to determine whether forced labor in the supply chains of major seafood producer Nekkanti Sea Foods constitutes an unfair trade practice that harms domestic shrimp producers.
“Forced labor is not a competitive advantage; it’s an inhumane practice that must end,” said Blake Price, executive director for the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “Multiple investigations find that Indian shrimp producers cut their costs by exploiting vulnerable populations, who are compelled by debt bondage, restricted movement, and abusive bosses to work in hazardous conditions to make shrimp that is exported to the United States. When the U.S. opens its market to Indian shrimp, we fail those vulnerable workers and allow immoral practices to push ethical producers out of the market.”
Growing Forced Labor Findings Unaddressed
In 2024, Corporate Accountability Lab, which is serving as co-counsel in the case, released a three-year studydocumenting widespread use of forced labor across all levels of India’s shrimp supply chain. The Associated Press, the Outlaw Ocean Project, and CNN have since corroborated the study, and the U.S. Department of Labor added shrimp from India to the 2024 List of Goods Produced with Forced Labor (TVPRA List), officially notifying all U.S. buyers sourcing shrimp from India to exercise additional due diligence to combat forced labor.
The Tariff Act of 1930 grants the ITC authority under Section 337 to block the importation of goods involved in unfair acts or methods of competition that either injure or threaten to injure a U.S. industry.
Distorted Prices of Indian Shrimp Harm American Shrimpers
India is a leading supplier of shrimp to the U.S. market, accounting for over half of all peeled shrimp (52%) and 40% of all frozen warmwater shrimp imported into the United States in 2025. The ITC has repeatedly determined that the U.S. shrimp industry is harmed or threatened with injury by Indian shrimp companies due to dumping (selling below fair value) and subsidies from the Indian government that support shrimp production for export. However, these trade remedies do not fully address the unfair competition caused by forced labor, which undercuts U.S. shrimp producers and costs them sales in the U.S. market.
As Indian shrimp prices fell to record lows, they dragged down all shrimp prices, causing the U.S. shrimp industry to lose half of its value between 2021 and 2023. America’s multigenerational mom-and-pop shrimping businesses closed in staggering numbers. By 2024, state shrimping licenses reached their lowest levels on record, and the total number of commercial shrimp licenses for the Gulf of America dropped to less than one-third of what they were in 2000.
Additionally, studies have linked the pricing pressures resulting from the use of forced labor in India to increased worker exploitation in other major shrimp-producing countries, such as Indonesia and Vietnam. Meanwhile, America is quickly losing its ability to harvest sustainable shrimp from local waters because of uncompetitive practices, jeopardizing domestic food security.
“This case aims to pressure India’s shrimp aquaculture industry to remove forced labor from their supply chains to access the large U.S. market,” explained Price. “Unfairly traded shrimp undercut American shrimpers, who are leaving their cherished, multigenerational way of life to make ends meet. America is losing its ability to access the sustainable shrimp stocks that grow naturally in local waters.”
ITC Decision Coming Soon
The complaint offers a clear timeline and transparent plan for the U.S. shrimp industry, which for years has shown evidence of unfair practices and their damaging effects on American fishing families to the Department of Labor, the Food and Drug Administration, and other agencies without any resulting action.
The Section 337 complaint follows a strict legal process. The ITC Commissioners will decide within 30 calendar days (November 27, 2026) whether to initiate the case and announce how it will proceed. An eight-day public comment period will follow publication in the Federal Register.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Read the fact sheet: https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Section-337-Fact-Sheet-Final.pdf
Read the Corporate Accountability Lab's (co-counsel) press release, blog, and landing page
Filed complaint: link coming