GOLDEN MEADOW, LA – In an unexpected twist, Louisiana shrimpers are expressing cautious optimism and mild confusion after President Trump imposed a 25% tariff on Indian shrimp imports, effectively throwing them a financial life preserver for the first time in decades.
“Wait… the government… helped us?” said one bewildered shrimper in Dulac while scanning the sky for signs of the apocalypse. “Is that even allowed?”
India, which has quietly flooded U.S. markets with over $2.3 billion worth of farm-raised shrimp annually, now faces a steep duty that Gulf Coast fishermen say levels the playing field. For years, Louisiana’s wild-caught shrimp industry has battled bottom-barrel prices, foreign antibiotics, and the general public’s inability to spell “etouffée.”
With tariffs now in place on India, Indonesia, and Vietnam, who together supply nearly two-thirds of U.S. shrimp, the bayou’s battered fleet might finally return to the water.
“We’re still broke,” one shrimper clarified, “but now we’re broke with a chance.”
The shrimp may be small, but for once, the win feels jumbo.
