The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SAA) praised new trade actions from President Donald Trump’s administration following a recent Supreme Court ruling that limited the President’s use of emergency powers to impose tariffs.
On February 20, the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision stating that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not give the President the authority to impose tariffs. This ruling blocks President Trump’s attempts to levy broad import duties using IEEPA.
Although the Supreme Court’s decision restricts the use of IEEPA, it does not eliminate the President’s authority to impose tariffs.
Following the decision, Trump said the ruling was “ridiculous” and maintained that tariffs “remain fully in place and in full force,” adding that he would rely on other statutes, including Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, to continue imposing duties, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The SSA, which represents shrimpers and processors across the Gulf and South Atlantic, said it had previously warned that refunding IEEPA tariffs “would be disastrous,” arguing that more than half a billion dollars collected under the law would flow back to foreign exporters because they, not U.S. businesses or consumers, paid the duties.
“When unfairly traded shrimp imports from India, Ecuador, Indonesia, and Vietnam flooded our market, the U.S. shrimp industry absorbed a loss of over half a billion dollars in landed value. Thousands of families in communities across the Gulf and South Atlantic suffered with no help from the federal government. It is a cruel joke that our legal system provides stronger protections to the foreign competitors who decimated American fishermen,” said Blake Price, director of the SSA.
The group welcomed an announcement from the Office of the United States Trade Representative that the administration intends to initiate multiple investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 targeting what it described as “unjustifiable, unreasonable, discriminatory, and burdensome” foreign trade practices.
According to the USTR announcement cited by SSA, tariffs are one tool that may be imposed if the investigations find unfair practices.
Texas’s shrimping industry has suffered for years, in part, due to foreign competition from producers in India and Ecuador. Five Texas counties—Galveston, Matagorda, Calhoun, Chambers, and Jefferson–have issued shrimp disaster declarations or resolutions because of the economic distress Texas shrimpers are facing, the Texas Observer reported in late 2023.
The response builds on prior support from shrimping advocates for Trump’s tariff policies. In August 2025, the administration imposed a 25% tariff on shrimp from India, a move praised by Gulf Coast lawmakers and the SSA as a “vital lifeline,” according to previous reporting by The Dallas Express.
The Dallas Express also previously reported that genetic testing in Texas coastal restaurants found shrimp mislabeling declined from 59% in 2024 to 23% in late 2025 after new state disclosure requirements and increased scrutiny, a shift industry advocates attributed in part to trade enforcement efforts and tariffs.
It remains unclear how quickly Section 301 investigations could move forward or whether new tariffs would withstand legal or political challenges.
