Washington, DC – May 5, 2026 – Bob DeHaan, Executive Vice President & General Counsel at the National Fisheries Institute, offered testimony today before the United States Trade Representative (USTR) as Part of its Section 301 tariff investigation into excess capacity.
DeHaan began his testimony by noting the Department of Agriculture’s dramatic reshaping of nutrition guidance, known as the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA.)
“These lofty nutrition policy goals cannot be achieved unless consumers can access affordable seafood items at scale. But USTR is now poised to impose significant and perhaps prohibitive tariffs on items that are indispensable to helping American families meet the DGA seafood consumption recommendation,” said DeHaan.
He noted wide-ranging consequences from the planned new Section 301 tariffs that are expected to stoke consumer inflation.
DeHaan testified about the need for trade in the seafood sector, explaining that, “U.S. wild stocks are fished to their maximum sustainable yield, and because, for reasons of climate and geography, ready domestic substitutes are often nonexistent, U.S. suppliers must use global markets.” This narrative dovetails with his previously submitted written comments that bluntly stated, “the concerns underlying this investigation—namely, structural excess capacity and resulting market distortions—plainly do not apply to seafood.”
DeHaan strongly urged USTR to, “ensure all commercial seafood products are outside the scope of the proceeding.” Testifying, “that remedy is consistent with the President’s rightful focus on consumer affordability… and the Administration’s nutrition guidance that counsels increased consumption of nutrient-dense proteins such as seafood. The nation will never come close to making this MAHA recommendation a reality if value seafood products are priced out of the reach of American families.”
NFI is the nation’s largest commercial seafood trade association representing harvesters, processors, exporters, importers, distributors, retailers, and seafood restaurants. Its member companies provide hundreds of millions of nutritious, sustainable seafood meals to American families and export to customers on five continents.
