[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2868 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2868
To increase the rate of duty on shrimp originating from India, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 18 (legislative day, September 16), 2025
Mr. Cassidy (for himself and Mrs. Hyde-Smith) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To increase the rate of duty on shrimp originating from India, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``India Shrimp Tariff Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) GATT 1947; gatt 1994.--The terms ``GATT 1947'' and
``GATT 1994'' have the meanings given those terms in section 2
of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501).
(2) HTS.--The term ``HTS'' means the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States.
(3) National trade estimate.--The term ``National Trade
Estimate'' means the report required to be submitted by the
United States Trade Representative under section 181(b) of the
Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2241(b)).
(4) Schedule of concessions.--The term ``Schedule of
Concessions'' has the meaning given the term ``Schedule XX'' in
section 2 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501).
(5) World trade organization.--The term ``World Trade
Organization'' means the organization established pursuant to
the WTO Agreement, as defined in section 2 of the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501).
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE NEED TO PHASE-IN A DUTY INCREASE FOR
SHRIMP FROM INDIA.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The United States has a grand tradition of shrimp
production, but domestic producers are forced to compete in a
wide open market while exports from India are heavily
subsidized and protected.
(2) According to the National Trade Estimate in 2023,
``India's bound tariff rates on agricultural products are among
the highest in the world, averaging 113.1 percent and ranging
as high as 300.0 percent.''.
(3) India's basic duty on shrimp is 30 percent.
(4) The National Trade Estimate also records that since
2018, India has applied an additional 10 percent social welfare
surcharge on imports, assessed on the value of its existing
high duties, which includes shrimp.
(5) Wild-caught and farm-raised shrimp from the United
States now account for less than 10 percent of shrimp
consumption in the United States.
(6) Shrimp production overseas is able to undercut the
costs of shrimp produced in the United States due to poor
worker and environmental protections.
(7) Shrimp imports from India consist almost entirely of
farm-raised aquaculture shrimp, as the importation of wild-
caught shrimp from India remains prohibited due to the failure
of Indian fisheries to meet the certification requirements
under section 609(b)(2) of the Departments of Commerce,
Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 1990 (Public Law 101-162; 16 U.S.C. 1537
note).
(8) According to Seafood Watch, ``India's farmed shrimp
industry has expanded rapidly since 2014 and faces challenges
with disease outbreaks, health management, farm registration,
and data availability.''.
(9) The United States has taken a lax approach to
inspecting imported shrimp, with only 0.1 percent of shipments
being inspected for unsafe drug residues. Despite that low
inspection rate, every year, shipments of shrimp from India are
refused due to testing by the Food and Drug Administration for
banned antibiotics.
(10) During the 20-year period preceding the date of the
enactment of this Act, shrimp producers in the United States
have paid a tremendous cost to litigate trade remedy laws to
defend against predatory pricing and illegal subsidies from
Indian shrimp imports.
(11) The Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade
Organization has limited the effectiveness of trade remedy laws
of the United States in relation to shrimp imports from India
and as a result, tens of millions of dollars in antidumping
duties go uncollected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
(12) The United States rate of duty for warm-water shrimp,
set under subheadings 0306.17, 1605.21, and 1605.29 of the HTS,
is set to ``free'' in both the column 1 and column 2 rate of
duty columns, meaning there is no duty owed for the entire
world absent a trade remedy order.
(13) The United States rate of duty for preserved or frozen
shrimp, in a product containing fish meat or prepared meals, is
5 percent, but waived under the Generalized System of
Preferences under title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.
2461 et seq.) and all relevant United States free trade
agreements under the column 1 special rate of duty column of
the HTS.
(14) Maintaining a 0 percent tariff on shrimp under both
column 1 and column 2 of the HTS negates any benefits,
including increased environmental and worker rights
protections, stemming from preferential tariff programs or free
trade agreements.
(15) India maintains a base customs duty for shrimp of 30
percent, before applying an additional 10 percent social
welfare surcharge--special duty.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that phasing in
an increased duty for shrimp originating from India is prudent and
necessary to safeguard sustainable harvesting of shrimp in the United
States and from free trade agreement partners of the United States, and
would enhance the trade and development goals of the tariff preference
programs of the United States.
SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF SHRIMP FROM INDIA.
(a) Phase-In of Duty Increase.--
(1) Calendar year 2026.--Effective on January 1, 2026,
subheadings 0306.16.00, 0306.17.00, 0306.35, 0306.36, 0306.95,
1605.21, and 1605.29 of the HTS shall be applied and
administered with respect to imports from India--
(A) in the column 1 general rate of duty column, by
substituting ``10%'' for the rate of duty otherwise
applicable; and
(B) in the column 2 rate of duty column, by
substituting ``25 cents/kg'' for the rate of duty
otherwise applicable.
(2) Calendar year 2027.--Effective on January 1, 2027,
subheadings 0306.16.00, 0306.17.00, 0306.35, 0306.36, 0306.95,
1605.21, and 1605.29 of the HTS shall be applied and
administered with respect to imports from India--
(A) in the column 1 general rate of duty column, by
substituting ``20%'' for the rate of duty otherwise
applicable; and
(B) in the column 2 rate of duty column, by
substituting ``50 cents/kg'' for the rate of duty
otherwise applicable.
(3) Calendar year 2028 and thereafter.--Effective on
January 1, 2028, subheadings 0306.16.00, 0306.17.00, 0306.35,
0306.36, 0306.95, 1605.21, and 1605.29 of the HTS shall be
applied and administered with respect to imports from India--
(A) in the column 1 general rate of duty column, by
substituting ``40%'' for the rate of duty otherwise
applicable; and
(B) in the column 2 rate of duty column, by
substituting ``$1/kg'' for the rate of duty otherwise
applicable.
(b) Customs Valuation.--Notwithstanding section 402 of the Tariff
Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1401a), or any other provision of law, shrimp
imported into the United States from India shall be appraised, for
purposes of that Act, as not less than the average of United States ex-
vessel shrimp prices as of the date of exportation.
SEC. 5. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING FOR COOKED SHRIMP AND CRAWFISH.
(a) In General.--Section 281(7)(B) of the Agricultural Marketing
Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1638(7)(B)) is amended--
(1) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``;
and'';
(2) by striking ``includes a fillet'' and inserting
``includes--
``(i) a fillet''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) whole cooked shrimp and crawfish and
cooked shrimp and crawfish sections.''.
(b) Modification of Definition of Processed Food Item.--The
Secretary of Agriculture shall modify section 60.119 of title 7, Code
of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), to ensure that
cooked shrimp, cooked crawfish, cooked shrimp sections, and cooked
crawfish sections are not considered processed food items for purposes
of that section.
SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL DUTY ON SHRIMP.
(a) In General.--The President shall impose a duty on imports of
shrimp under subheadings 0306.16.00, 0306.17.00, 0306.35, 0306.36,
0306.95, 1605.21, and 1605.29 of the HTS in an amount equal to $0.10
per kilogram.
(b) Use of Amounts.--The President shall use an amount equal to the
amount received by the United States pursuant to duties under
subsection (a) to conduct inspections of shrimp and catfish imported
into the United States.
SEC. 7. TREATMENT OF DUTIES.
Duties under this Act are to be imposed in addition to any duty
imposed under any other provision of law or pursuant to any other
authority.
SEC. 8. MODIFICATION OF SCHEDULE OF CONCESSIONS TO GATT 1994.
With due regard for the international obligations of the United
States, particularly Article XXXVIII of the GATT 1947 requiring any
suspension of trade agreement concessions to be made on a most-favored
nation basis, the United States Trade Representative shall take the
necessary steps to modify the Schedule of Concessions to accommodate
the increase in the rate of duty applicable to shrimp from India under
section 4 and the additional increase under section 6.
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