S. 4945, Agricultural Protectionism via Tariff Quotas. Quorum's AI analysis reads it as a net cost — and names who bears it.
S. 4945 · Net cost
What it does
This bill imposes tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on agricultural and seafood imports—shrimp, honey, crawfish, rice, and fish fillets from specific countries—allowing limited quantities to enter at standard tariff rates, with steep penalties (40–402% tariffs) on excess imports. It also raises base tariffs on sheep, goat, and beef meat, and live cattle, with quotas that decline over time. The bill protects domestic producers by making foreign agricultural products more expensive for U.S. importers and consumers.
The analysis names U.S. shrimp producers and aquaculture operations — and 5 more groups — among the beneficiaries.
The cost
Tariff-rate quotas with country-specific allocations may trigger retaliatory tariffs from affected exporters (Argentina, Ecuador, India, Vietnam, Thailand, China), escalating trade tensions.
The analysis put a high warning level on this bill. Transparency scores 75%, and the analysis found no provisions unrelated to the bill's subject.
Who is behind it
Filed by Bill Cassidy.