Cassidy to Introduce Bill to Protect Louisiana Seafood, Rice Producers from Unfair Imports

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) will introduce the Home Market Restoration Act of 2026 to protect Louisiana crawfish, shrimp, rice, catfish, and other American producers from unfair foreign competition. The legislation would establish tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on import-sensitive food and agricultural products to stop import surges, restore fair prices, and keep American producers in business without shutting down lawful trade.

"Louisiana producers can compete with anyone if trade is fair," said Dr. Cassidy. "Whether it is crawfish, shrimp, rice, or catfish, America cannot let foreign competitors flood our markets and push our producers out of business."

The Home Market Restoration Act of 2026 is supported by the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation, USA Rice, American Honey Producers Association, Southern Shrimp Alliance, American Shrimp Processors Association, Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA), and R-CALF USA.

"Many staple commodities from Louisiana farms are struggling economically due to foreign competitors dumping cheap, inferior products into our markets. Senator Cassidy has long been fighting to give Louisiana farmers a chance. This bill is a testament to that and would finally level the playing field for crawfish, shrimp, rice, honey and other food products grown by Louisiana Farm Bureau producer members. Congress should follow Senator Cassidy's lead and protect American farmers with passage of this bill before it's too late. Fair trade is all we are asking for," said the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation.

"USA Rice supports Senator Cassidy's efforts to level the playing field for sensitive commodities, including the U.S. rice industry. In Louisiana and across the United States, rice farmers have been hammered by the exponential growth of unfair imports over the past two decades, largely driven by illegal subsidies by foreign governments. The influx of cheap imports have forced consolidation in the U.S. rice industry and offshored jobs across the mid-south. This bill provides a pathway toward rebuilding that domestic market share for American rice farmers and processors," said USA Rice.

"On behalf of America's beekeepers and honey producers, we commend Senator Cassidy for introducing legislation that confronts years of unfair trade practices that have distorted the U.S. honey market. For too long, foreign bad actors have evaded trade rules, dumped underpriced honey into our country, and driven honest American producers to the brink," said Steven Coy, President of the American Honey Producers Association. "A fair and enforceable tariff-rate quota would help restore integrity to the marketplace, defend rural livelihoods, and give U.S. beekeepers a fighting chance to survive and rebuild."

"The United States is losing the ability to feed itself. An unchecked flood of imports has been unfairly driving American farmers, fishermen, and ranchers out of business," said Blake Price, Director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. "Senator Cassidy's Home Market Restoration Act of 2026 fights back. By establishing tariff-rate quotas to stop manipulated import surges, his legislation prioritizes America's shrimpers and food producers. We don't just support this bill to establish a fair-trade regime-we urgently need it."

"American shrimp processors strongly support the Home Market Restoration Act of 2026," said Trey Pearson, President of the American Shrimp Processors Association. "Domestic shrimp producers have struggled with wave after wave of unfairly traded shrimp imports for decades, and we support every effort to combat these imports and give our industry a chance to compete."

"America's tariff schedule is littered with specific duties still priced in 1930 dollars, and inflation has quietly repealed most of them," said CPA President Jon Toomey. "Senator Cassidy's bill does the obvious thing Washington has neglected for a hundred years: it indexes the duties so they hold their value. Every specific tariff in the U.S. schedule should be written this way."

"We applaud Senator Cassidy for introducing this historic and urgently needed reform of our nation's antiquated tariff schedules and import quotas. Current tariffs on lamb and beef and quotas on beef were set decades ago and have proven ineffectual at protecting our cattle and sheep industries from excessive price-depressing imports that have all but destroyed America's commercial sheep industry and is causing the rapid deterioration of our beef supply chain. Today over 70% of lamb and 22% of beef consumed in America is sourced from foreign countries. America should not tolerate its growing dependency on foreign countries for our food. This is a threat to national security and Senator Cassidy's bill will help America's cattle and sheep producers rebuild our domestic supply chains for lamb and beef," said Bill Bullard, CEO, R-CALF USA.

The Home Market Restoration Act of 2026 would:

• Establish tariff-rate quotas on import-sensitive food and agricultural products, including shrimp, crawfish, catfish, rice, honey, lamb, goat meat, live cattle, and beef;
• Apply higher duty rates to imports above those quota levels to stop foreign competitors from flooding U.S. markets;
• Create country-by-country quotas for shrimp and crawfish, quarterly quotas and an export-license regime for honey, and new quota structures for rice, catfish, lamb, goat meat, live cattle, and beef;
• Protect Louisiana crawfish, shrimp, rice, and catfish producers from unfair import surges that drive down prices;
• Restore fair competition for American farmers, fishermen, ranchers, and food producers without cutting off lawful trade.

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