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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2979 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2979

To increase the rate of duty on shrimp originating from India, and for 
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 28 (legislative day, September 22), 2023

  Mr. Cassidy 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) GATT1947; 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 2024.--Effective on January 1, 2024, 
        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 2025.--Effective on January 1, 2025, 
        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 2026 and thereafter.--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 ``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. 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.
                                 <all>
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