In a letter sent Monday to the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Ambassador Jamieson Greer, twenty members of Congress requested the initiation of an investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Section 301) of unfair acts, practices, and policies impacting seafood.
The request from Congress builds upon President Trump’s Executive Order from April 2025, Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness, directing the USTR to “examine the relevant trade practices of major seafood-producing nations, including with regard to IUU fishing and the use of forced labor in the seafood supply chain, and consider appropriate responses, including pursuing solutions through negotiations or trade enforcement authorities, such as under section 301” and Ambassador Greer’s statement in February indicating that the USTR expects to initiate several Section 301 investigations, including an inquiry into “practices related to the trade in seafood.”
Led by Congressman Troy Carter (D-LA) and Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) in response to concerns raised by the American catfish, crawfish, and shrimp industries regarding the adverse impacts of unfair trade practices, the letter asked “the USTR to pursue a seafood-specific Section 301 investigation that examines all unfair acts, policies, and practices across the full seafood supply chain” in order to develop solutions that will decrease American dependence on foreign sources of seafood while strengthening rural communities throughout the country. The letter described the American seafood industry’s concerns as “encompassing a broad spectrum of unfair practices, including false labeling and species designations, the abuse of banned antibiotics and fungicides in aquaculture, export and production subsidies, environmental harm, structural excess capacity, labor abuses, and permissive standards with respect to gear usage.”
This request to the USTR was joined by eighteen other members of Congress: Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL), Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL), Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR), Rep. Don Davis (D-NC), Rep. Mike Ezell (R-MS), Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL), Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS), Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS), Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA), Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL), Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC), Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR), and Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX).
The letter was also endorsed by a diverse group of thirteen different seafood producing groups: the Alabama Farmers Federation, the California Pelagic Fisheries Association, the California Sea Urchin Commission, the Catfish Farmers of America, the Chesapeake Bay Seafood Industries Association, the Fishing Communities Coalition, the Hawaii Longline Association, the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation, Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, the North American Marine Alliance, the North Carolina Fisheries Association, the Oregon Trawl Commission, and the Southern Shrimp Alliance.
“American shrimpers are thankful today for the continued leadership of Congressman Higgins and Congressman Carter in defense of our commercial shrimp fishery,” said Blake Price, Director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “We are overwhelmed by the strong support in Congress for U.S. seafood producers. Across the country, Americans could be producing much more of the seafood we consume on a level playing field. The initiation of a Section 301 investigation on seafood by the USTR is an important first step towards achieving that goal.”
Review the May 11, 2026 letter from twenty members of Congress to Ambassador Jameison Greer, United States Trade Representative, here: https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/FINAL-Congressional-Letter-to-USTR-requesting-a-broad-Section-301-investigation-into-unfair-trade-in-seafood-05-11-2026.pdf
Read Congressman Clay Higgins’ (R-LA) press release, Higgins Leads Efforts to Initiate Investigation into Foreign Seafood Importers Engaging in Harmful Trade Practices (May 12, 2026), here: https://clayhiggins.house.gov/2026/05/12/higgins-leads-effort-to-initiate-investigation-into-foreign-seafood-importers-engaging-in-harmful-trade-practices/