September 30, 2026
Mrs. Hyde-Smith introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
To increase the rate of duty on shrimp originating from Ecuador, 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 Ecuador 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) Schedule of concessions
The term Schedule of Concessions means Schedule XX–United States of America annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol to the GATT 1994.
Sec. 3. Phase-in of duty increase for shrimp from Ecuador
(a) 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 Ecuador—
(1)
in the column 1 general rate of duty column, by substituting 10%
for the rate of duty otherwise applicable; and
(2)
in the column 2 rate of duty column, by substituting 25¢/kg
for the rate of duty otherwise applicable.
(b) Calendar year 2028
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 Ecuador—
(1)
in the column 1 general rate of duty column, by substituting 20%
for the rate of duty otherwise applicable; and
(2)
in the column 2 rate of duty column, by substituting 50¢/kg
for the rate of duty otherwise applicable.
(c) Calendar year 2029 and thereafter
Effective on January 1, 2029, 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 Ecuador—
(1)
in the column 1 general rate of duty column, by substituting 40%
for the rate of duty otherwise applicable; and
(2)
in the column 2 rate of duty column, by substituting $1/kg
for the rate of duty otherwise applicable.
Sec. 4. Country of origin labeling for cooked shrimp and crawfish
(a) In general
Section 281(1) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1638(1)) is amended—
(1)
in subparagraph (A)(vi), by striking and
; and
(2)
in subparagraph (B), by inserting before the period at the end the following: , except if the processed food item is whole cooked shrimp, whole cooked crawfish, cooked shrimp sections, or cooked 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. 5. 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. 6. 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. 7. 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 Ecuador under section 3 and the additional increase under section 5.