II 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘India Shrimp Tariff 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) GATT1947; GATT 1994.—The terms 

9 ‘‘GATT 1947’’ and ‘‘GATT 1994’’ have the meanVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Oct 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2979.IS S2979

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1 ings given those terms in section 2 of the Uruguay 

2 Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501). 

3 (2) HTS.—The term ‘‘HTS’’ means the Har4 monized Tariff Schedule of the United States. 

5 (3) NATIONAL TRADE ESTIMATE.—The term 

6 ‘‘National Trade Estimate’’ means the report re7 quired to be submitted by the United States Trade 

8 Representative under section 181(b) of the Trade 

9 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2241(b)). 

10 (4) SCHEDULE OF CONCESSIONS.—The term 

11 ‘‘Schedule of Concessions’’ has the meaning given 

12 the term ‘‘Schedule XX’’ in section 2 of the Uru13 guay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501). 

14 (5) WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION.—The term 

15 ‘‘World Trade Organization’’ means the organization 

16 established pursuant to the WTO Agreement, as de17 fined in section 2 of the Uruguay Round Agree18 ments Act (19 U.S.C. 3501). 

19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE NEED TO PHASE-IN A 

20 DUTY INCREASE FOR SHRIMP FROM INDIA. 

21 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find22 ings: 

23 (1) The United States has a grand tradition of 

24 shrimp production, but domestic producers are 

25 forced to compete in a wide open market while exVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Oct 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2979.IS S2979

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1 ports from India are heavily subsidized and pro2 tected. 

3 (2) According to the National Trade Estimate 

4 in 2023, ‘‘India’s bound tariff rates on agricultural 

5 products are among the highest in the world, aver6 aging 113.1 percent and ranging as high as 300.0 

7 percent.’’. 

8 (3) India’s basic duty on shrimp is 30 percent. 

9 (4) The National Trade Estimate also records 

10 that since 2018, India has applied an additional 10 

11 percent social welfare surcharge on imports, assessed 

12 on the value of its existing high duties, which in13 cludes shrimp. 

14 (5) Wild-caught and farm-raised shrimp from 

15 the United States now account for less than 10 per16 cent of shrimp consumption in the United States. 

17 (6) Shrimp production overseas is able to un18 dercut the costs of shrimp produced in the United 

19 States due to poor worker and environmental protec20 tions. 

21 (7) Shrimp imports from India consist almost 

22 entirely of farm-raised aquaculture shrimp, as the 

23 importation of wild-caught shrimp from India re24 mains prohibited due to the failure of Indian fish25 eries to meet the certification requirements under 


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1 section 609(b)(2) of the Departments of Commerce, 

2 Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agen3 cies Appropriations Act, 1990 (Public Law 101–162; 

4 16 U.S.C. 1537 note). 

5 (8) According to Seafood Watch, ‘‘India’s 

6 farmed shrimp industry has expanded rapidly since 

7 2014 and faces challenges with disease outbreaks, 

8 health management, farm registration, and data 

9 availability.’’. 

10 (9) The United States has taken a lax approach 

11 to inspecting imported shrimp, with only 0.1 percent 

12 of shipments being inspected for unsafe drug resi13 dues. Despite that low inspection rate, every year, 

14 shipments of shrimp from India are refused due to 

15 testing by the Food and Drug Administration for 

16 banned antibiotics. 

17 (10) During the 20-year period preceding the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, shrimp producers 

19 in the United States have paid a tremendous cost to 

20 litigate trade remedy laws to defend against preda21 tory pricing and illegal subsidies from Indian shrimp 

22 imports. 

23 (11) The Dispute Settlement Body of the World 

24 Trade Organization has limited the effectiveness of 

25 trade remedy laws of the United States in relation 


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1 to shrimp imports from India and as a result, tens 

2 of millions of dollars in antidumping duties go uncol3 lected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

4 (12) The United States rate of duty for warm5 water shrimp, set under subheadings 0306.17, 

6 1605.21, and 1605.29 of the HTS, is set to ‘‘free’’ 

7 in both the column 1 and column 2 rate of duty col8 umns, meaning there is no duty owed for the entire 

9 world absent a trade remedy order. 

10 (13) The United States rate of duty for pre11 served or frozen shrimp, in a product containing fish 

12 meat or prepared meals, is 5 percent, but waived 

13 under the Generalized System of Preferences under 

14 title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 

15 et seq.) and all relevant United States free trade 

16 agreements under the column 1 special rate of duty 

17 column of the HTS. 

18 (14) Maintaining a 0 percent tariff on shrimp 

19 under both column 1 and column 2 of the HTS ne20 gates any benefits, including increased environ21 mental and worker rights protections, stemming 

22 from preferential tariff programs or free trade 

23 agreements. 


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1 (15) India maintains a base customs duty for 

2 shrimp of 30 percent, before applying an additional 

3 10 percent social welfare surcharge – special duty. 

4 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con5 gress that phasing in an increased duty for shrimp origi6 nating from India is prudent and necessary to safeguard 

7 sustainable harvesting of shrimp in the United States and 

8 from free trade agreement partners of the United States, 

9 and would enhance the trade and development goals of the 

10 tariff preference programs of the United States. 

11 SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF SHRIMP FROM INDIA. 

12 (a) PHASE-IN OF DUTY INCREASE.— 

13 (1) CALENDAR YEAR 2024.—Effective on Janu14 ary 1, 2024, subheadings 0306.16.00, 0306.17.00, 

15 0306.35, 0306.36, 0306.95, 1605.21, and 1605.29 

16 of the HTS shall be applied and administered with 

17 respect to imports from India— 

18 (A) in the column 1 general rate of duty 

19 column, by substituting ‘‘10%’’ for the rate of 

20 duty otherwise applicable; and 

21 (B) in the column 2 rate of duty column, 

22 by substituting ‘‘25¢/kg’’ for the rate of duty 

23 otherwise applicable. 

24 (2) CALENDAR YEAR 2025.—Effective on Janu25 ary 1, 2025, subheadings 0306.16.00, 0306.17.00, 


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1 0306.35, 0306.36, 0306.95, 1605.21, and 1605.29 

2 of the HTS shall be applied and administered with 

3 respect to imports from India— 

4 (A) in the column 1 general rate of duty 

5 column, by substituting ‘‘20%’’ for the rate of 

6 duty otherwise applicable; and 

7 (B) in the column 2 rate of duty column, 

8 by substituting ‘‘50¢/kg’’ for the rate of duty 

9 otherwise applicable. 

10 (3) CALENDAR YEAR 2026 AND THEREAFTER.— 

11 Effective on January 1, 2026, subheadings 

12 0306.16.00, 0306.17.00, 0306.35, 0306.36, 

13 0306.95, 1605.21, and 1605.29 of the HTS shall be 

14 applied and administered with respect to imports 

15 from India— 

16 (A) in the column 1 general rate of duty 

17 column, by substituting ‘‘40%’’ for the rate of 

18 duty otherwise applicable; and 

19 (B) in the column 2 rate of duty column, 

20 by substituting ‘‘$1/kg’’ for the rate of duty 

21 otherwise applicable. 

22 (b) CUSTOMS VALUATION.—Notwithstanding section 

23 402 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1401a), or any 

24 other provision of law, shrimp imported into the United 

25 States from India shall be appraised, for purposes of that 


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1 Act, as not less than the average of United States ex-ves2 sel shrimp prices as of the date of exportation. 

3 SEC. 5. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING FOR COOKED 

4 SHRIMP AND CRAWFISH. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 281(7)(B) of the Agricul6 tural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1638(7)(B)) is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by striking the period at the end and insert9 ing ‘‘; and’’; 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘includes a fillet’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘includes— 

12 ‘‘(i) a fillet’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(ii) whole cooked shrimp and craw15 fish and cooked shrimp and crawfish sec16 tions.’’. 

17 (b) MODIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF PROCESSED

18 FOOD ITEM.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall modify 

19 section 60.119 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

20 successor regulations), to ensure that cooked shrimp, 

21 cooked crawfish, cooked shrimp sections, and cooked craw22 fish sections are not considered processed food items for 

23 purposes of that section. 


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1 SEC. 6. MODIFICATION OF SCHEDULE OF CONCESSIONS TO 

2 GATT 1994. 

3 With due regard for the international obligations of 

4 the United States, particularly Article XXXVIII of the 

5 GATT 1947 requiring any suspension of trade agreement 

6 concessions to be made on a most-favored nation basis, 

7 the United States Trade Representative shall take the nec8 essary steps to modify the Schedule of Concessions to ac9 commodate the increase in the rate of duty applicable to 

10 shrimp from India under section 4. 

Æ 


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