This morning, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing to consider the nomination of Jonathan Greenstein to be Deputy Under Secretary at the U.S. Department of the Treasury responsible for the agency’s International Finance portfolio.
During the hearing, Senator Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA) described the frustrations expressed by the Southern Shrimp Alliance regarding the harm caused by World Bank and other multilateral development bank (MDB) funding of foreign shrimp aquaculture projects on the U.S. shrimp industry. Senator Cassidy provided the example of a $300 million loan granted to the Ecuadorian shrimp industry by the Inter American Development Bank (IADB), noting that Ecuador has now become the second largest source of imported shrimp in the U.S. market and that the U.S. International Trade Commission recently found that these subsidized shrimp imports were causing material injury to the American shrimp industry.
Senator Cassidy asked Mr. Greenstein to, if confirmed, ensure that the United States opposes any future MDB support of foreign shrimp aquaculture. In response, Mr. Greenstein affirmed that he shared the concerns of the Senator and of his constituents; that President Trump’s America First Trade Policy was focused on how to effectively counteract the harm caused by foreign shrimp dumped into the U.S. market; and that he looked forward to working with Senator Cassidy to address the issue. Thanking Mr. Greenstein for the response, Senator Cassidy emphasized that U.S. directors at MDBs have never previously expressed opposition to any proposed project that would benefit foreign shrimp aquaculture.
Through his comments at the hearing this morning, Senator Cassidy continued to emphasize concerns raised directly in a February 2025 letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent regarding MDB lending to shrimp aquaculture producers. In its response to Senator Cassidy a month later, the agency observed “[t]he Treasury Department assures you that the Trump Administration is dedicated to using our shareholding and influence in the MDBs to better align financing with U.S. policy.” The Treasury letter also noted that the agency “share[s] your concern regarding potential MDB support for production of commodities in global oversupply” and that, per Senator Cassidy’s request, “we are conducting a review of relevant projects over the last decade . . . .”
A review of the most recent information released by the Treasury Department, covering votes made by U.S. directors through November 2024, highlights the importance of a change in approach. Specifically, in October, the U.S. directors for the Asian Development Bank voted to support a $42 million loan for the “Maharashtra Sustainable Climate-Resilient Coastal Protection and Management Project,” that, among other things, is designed to develop skills training programs for those involved in shrimp production.
Outside of shrimp, the federal agency also reported voting in November to support a project promoting palm oil production in Mexico despite explicit reference to the requirements of 22 U.S.C. § 262g, which instructs that “[t]he United States representatives to the institutions named in this section shall oppose any loan or other financial assistance for establishing or expanding production for export of palm oil, sugar, or citrus crops if such loan or assistance will cause injury to United States producers of the same, similar, or competing agricultural commodity.” At the same time, in November, the U.S. directors abstained from voting on an International Finance Corporation (IFC) project that would support sugarcane planting in Brazil, citing “trade policy” concerns but omitting reference to the requirements of 22 U.S.C. § 262g.
Treasury did report that the U.S. directors voted in opposition in October to an IFC project to develop a steel mill in Bangladesh and voted in opposition in November to a separate IFC project intended to augment steel production in Ghana, citing “trade policy” concerns in both instances.
“The American shrimp industry is grateful for Senator Cassidy’s continued fight to stop U.S. taxpayers from funding foreign shrimp aquaculture,” said John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “President Trump’s America First Trade Policy means that we must put an end to the support of foreign industries that are driving Americans out of work.”
In accordance with the updates provided by Treasury, the Southern Shrimp Alliance is publishing an updated version of our U.S. Treasury Votes database to now include votes from October and November 2024.
Access the updated U.S. Treasury Votes database current through November 2024 here: https://shrimpalliance.com/issues/fighting-for-fair-trade/mdi-funding-of-shrimp-aquaculture/
View the discussion between Senator Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA) and Jonathan Greenstein beginning at the one hour and eight minute mark of the video of the Senate Finance Committee’s hearing here: https://www.finance.senate.gov/hearings/watch?hearingid=78580B0D-32BF-4B89-88BA-610FC9BB6335
Review the February 20, 2025 letter from Senator Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA) to the U.S. Treasury Department here: https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sen.-Cassidy-ltr-to-Bessent-re-IFI-Financing-2-20-25-.pdf
Review the U.S. Treasury Department’s March 17, 2025 letter to Senator Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA) here: https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Responseto2025.02.20Cassidy_final.pdf