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Louisiana shrimpers worry new U.S. trade deal with India would negatively impact industry
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WASHINGTON - The United States and India released the framework for a new trade deal that would lower tariffs, but Louisiana shrimpers worry it could open the floodgates to cheaper imported shrimp and threaten domestic producers.
As part of the deal, the U.S. would drop tariffs on Indian seafood from 50 percent to 18 percent. The Louisiana Shrimp Association says India has been flooding the U.S. market with cheaper, farm-raised shrimp and those higher tariffs imposed last year were helping bring back the market for fresh-caught Louisiana shrimp.
"We've been dealing with such a low price because of them dumping on us. We need to come out of the hole we're in. We've had 20 years of this stuff," Acy Cooper with the Louisiana Shrimp Association said.
Rep. Clay Higgins echoed the concerns in a letter, saying the tariffs "allowed our shrimpers to breathe again." He asked the Trump Administration to "take other steps to protect our domestic shrimp industry within the framework of the new agreement.
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