Yesterday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) portal, enabling refunds of tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which the Supreme Court struck down in February.
Because foreign shrimp exporters often served as the importer of record, they are now eligible to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in refunds. While the U.S. Treasury is being forced to provide a windfall to foreign shrimp producers, American shrimpers sit idle due to high fuel prices and a market still distorted by unfair trade and double standards.
The Foreign Windfall
When IEEPA tariffs were challenged in 2025, SSA warned clearly about what a reversal would mean for American shrimping families.
Between May 2025 and February 2026, the U.S. collected $902.7 million in tariffs on shrimp imports from all countries – far exceeding the total of $76.8 million in tariffs on shrimp collected in the preceding decade (2015-2024). The IEEPA tariffs began to level a playing field long tilted against American producers.
With IEEPA tariffs in place:
- Imported shrimp values rose 6% in 2025, though still below prior-decade averages, even without adjusting for inflation.
- Imported shrimp volumes also increased in 2025, underscoring the importance of unfair trade offsets.
Now those tariffs are being returned – not to U.S. shrimp consumers or importers—but largely to the foreign exporters, who were responsible for the tariffs because of sales made under “Delivered Duty Paid” (DDP) terms. As a result, Indian shrimp exporters filed lawsuits at the U.S. Court of International Trade seeking to perfect their ability to obtain refunds, with over $448.4 million in tariffs collected in the last year on Indian shrimp imports alone.
Refunding IEEPA tariffs amounts to a massive cash infusion for the very competitors who flooded the U.S. market with unethically produced shrimp.
An oversupply of foreign shrimp, driven by foreign government and development subsidies, the use of banned antibiotics, forced labor, environmental shortcuts, and other unfair trade practices, has devastated family-operated American shrimp businesses. The value of U.S. wild-caught shrimp fell by half from 2021 ($522 million) to 2024 ($258 million) due to counterproductive trade policies.
Impact of IEEPA Tariffs
- $902.7 million— IEEPA tariffs collected on shrimp imports (May 2025 – February 2026)
- $448.4 million— Duties tied to Indian shrimp imports alone
- <6%— Increase in shrimp import value in 2025, even while volumes increased
Impact of Unfair Trade and Double Standards
- >50% revenue drop – Gulf shrimp revenue fell from $489M (2021) to $221M (2023)
- Record-low prices – Under $2.00/lb in 2023 (inflation-adjusted), down from >$6.00/lb in the 1980s
- -6.1% loss – Average federal fleet profit margin in 2023
- 1,200 jobs lost – Federal vessel employment decline (2021-2023)
- 19% fewer vessels – Reduction in active federal shrimp boats (2021-2023)
American Shrimpers Idled as Season Begins
The timing of the refunds is particularly damaging. In early 2026, U.S. diesel prices surged from an average of $3.48 per gallon to over $5.37 per gallon by late March, an increase of approximately 54% in less than three months.
Fuel accounts for a 30%-50% of total operating costs. At current prices, many shrimpers cannot operate profitably.
“Shrimpers are individuals, not large corporations. While the average vehicle might take 15 gallons, shrimp boats need closer to 15,000 gallons. When upfront fuel costs jump by tens of thousands of dollars, the math simply doesn’t work,” explained Blake Price, director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “At the same time, tariff refunds are effectively a cash infusion for our foreign competitors.”
Shrimp remains the most-consumed seafood in the United States, with the average American eating more than five pounds per year. When the domestic fleet stays docked, demand shifts even further to imported shrimp—often sourced from countries with far weaker environmental protections, labor standards, and food safety oversight.
What Must Happen Now
The Southern Shrimp Alliance supports the Trump Administration’s commitment to pursue alternative trade enforcement through Section 301. Those investigations must move quickly.
Each delay leaves American shrimpers at a disadvantage while foreign competitors—now bolstered by U.S. Treasury refunds—undercut them in the American marketplace.
“Foreign shrimp companies shouldn’t be cashing checks from the U.S. Treasury while American shrimpers can’t afford to go to sea,” said Price. “U.S. food producers need an immediate, targeted solution to short-term fuel impacts to maintain domestic food production and infrastructure. It is a matter of national food security.”