Twenty-three U.S. seafood organizations – representing fishermen, shrimpers, dockside facilities and processors – have formally asked the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Ambassador Jamieson Greer, to launch a broad investigation into unfair seafood trade practices.
In a letter dated May 19, the organizations ask the USTR to investigate unfair practices in seafood trade under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a law that allows the U.S. to implement trade measures to respond to discriminatory practices by trading partners. By addressing unfair trade – including dumping, subsidies, environmental harm, reliance on banned veterinary drugs, false labeling and species designations, utilization of fishing gear banned in the U.S., structural excess capacity, and labor abuse – American seafood production can increase significantly and quickly.
“The U.S. market for seafood is dominated by cheap, unfairly traded imports,” said Blake Price, director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “It is rapidly forcing American fishermen and fish farmers out of business, eliminating our country’s ability to produce healthy, high-quality protein. Domestic seafood producers urgently need the Trump Administration to use Section 301 authority to give us a fighting chance.”
The May 19 letter comes after a May 11th letter from 20 members of Congress making the same request. The requests to utilize Section 301 authority to address issues with seafood trade stem from President Donald Trump’s April 2025 Executive Order, 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.”
More recently, Greer issued a 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.”
