Last night, the Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes (PAIL) Act of 2025, H.R. 1869, passed the U.S. House of Representatives. The PAIL Act would create a dedicated structure within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute trade crimes.
The U.S. shrimp industry has extensive history working to counter trade fraud that has facilitated the importation of shrimp evading the payment of antidumping duties and the regulatory controls of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Several of these schemes were described in a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Seafood Fraud: FDA Program Changes and Better Collaboration Among Key Federal Agencies Could Improve Detection and Prevention (GAO-09-258). In that report, the GAO noted that:
- Federal law enforcement “found that some Indonesian firms were importing Chinese shrimp and then shipping them to the United States labeled as Indonesian shrimp.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “found that, in 2005, approximately $6 million worth of Chinese shrimp had been illegally transshipped through Indonesia to avoid antidumping duties.”
- Later, CBP continued to confirm illegal transshipment of Chinese shrimp through Indonesia, as “a quick-response audit concluded in 2007 found that an importer did not pay approximately $2.2 million in antidumping duties on imported Chinese shrimp that was transshipped through Indonesia.”
- Federal law enforcement also uncovered broad-based illicit evasion schemes where Chinese shrimp was transshipped through Malaysia. “On the basis of industry information and CBP and ICE investigations, CBP determined that Chinese shrimp was being transshipped to the United States through Malaysia. Due to this illegal transshipment, importers of Chinese shrimp were able to circumvent not only the 2005 antidumping duty but also FDA’s recent import alert. In September 2007, CBP tested shipments of suspected Chinese shrimp illegally transshipped through Malaysia for the presence of unapproved drugs and found some contaminated shrimp. On the basis of CBP’s information, in March 2008, FDA issued a new import alert requiring importers of shrimp from one Malaysian manufacturer to prove the absence of unapproved drugs prior to entering future shipments of shrimp into U.S. commerce.”
- Foreign shrimp was also falsely characterized at importation to evade over $100 million in duties that would have been otherwise paid to the U.S. Treasury. “On the basis of allegations from the U.S. shrimp industry, CBP initiated an intensive examination and sampling operation to determine whether importers were bringing in shipments of falsely declared dusted shrimp to avoid the antidumping duties on Chinese shrimp. Over the course of a 90-day period, CBP found that of the 81 alleged dusted shrimp entries examined and sampled, approximately 64 percent of the shipments did not meet the criteria to qualify as dusted shrimp. The potential loss of trade revenue from these fraudulent dusted shrimp shipments was approximately $5 million. Extrapolating back to when the antidumping duty order first became effective in 2005, CBP concluded that the importers caught importing these fraudulent dusted shrimp imported approximately $117 million worth of potentially fraudulent dusted shrimp with a possible loss of trade revenue from the uncollected antidumping duties of $132 million.”
Despite the extensive efforts of federal law enforcement to combat shrimp trade fraud, there have been no criminal prosecutions of any of the parties involved for their role in cheating American taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars, knowingly endangering the health of American consumers through the introduction of contaminated shrimp, and driving U.S. commercial fishermen out of business.
In discussions with the DOJ and U.S. Attorney offices, the U.S. shrimp industry was repeatedly informed that criminal prosecutions of trade-related crimes were difficult because they were complex and prosecutors lacked familiarity with the field. In turn, a lack of criminal prosecutions has allowed bad actors to continue to participate in the United States’ seafood supply chain, creating constant risks of renewed fraudulent schemes. By directly addressing the lack of resources committed to trade crime prosecutions, the PAIL Act is an essential step forward for eliminating shrimp trade fraud.
“For twenty-five years, we’ve fought trade crime with one hand tied behind our back, watching fraudulent practices proliferate. The PAIL Act finally equips federal prosecutors to go after the trade criminals who’ve cost American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year,” said Blake Price, Executive Director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “We thank Congresswoman Hinson and the bill’s bipartisan cosponsors for championing this legislation.”
Read Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-IA) August 31, 2026 press release, “House Passes Hinson Bill to Combat China’s Trade Crimes, Protect American Workers,” here: https://hinson.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-passes-hinson-bill-combat-chinas-trade-crimes-protect-american-workers