Meet the Gulf shrimpers rooting on Trump's tariffs in a Texas fishing town

PALACIOS, Texas (AP) — While American consumers and markets wonder and worry about President Donald Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs, there's one group cheering him as they hope he'll prop up their sinking business: Gulf coast shrimpers.

American shrimpers have been hammered in recent years by cheap imports flooding the U.S. market and restaurants, driving down prices to the point that profits are razor thin or shrimpers are losing money and struggling to stay afloat.

Tariffs, they hope, could level the playing field and help their businesses not just survive but thrive.

“It’s been tough the last several years that we’ve tried to fight through this," said Reed Bowers, owner of Bowers Shrimp Farm in Palacios, Texas. Tough times meant difficult choices for many. "Cutting people off, laying people off, or reduce hours or reduce wages ... whatever we can do to survive."

Since 2021, the price of imported shrimp has dropped by more than $1.5 billion, according to the Southern Shrimpers Alliance trade association, causing the U.S. shrimp industry to lose nearly 50% of its market value.

The shrimpers alliance complains that the overseas industry has benefitted from billions of dollars invested in shrimp aquaculture, cheap or even forced labor, use of antibiotics banned in the U.S., and few or no environment regulations.

More than 90% of shrimp consumed in the U.S. is imported, according to the alliance.

“I’m not a believer in free trade. I’m a believer fair trade,” Bowers said. "So if you’re gonna sell into the United States, I think it’s very important to get the same rules and regulations that I have to have as a farmer here in the United States.”

Craig Wallis, owner of W&W Dock & Ice, has been in the business since 1975 and noted that back then shrimpers would run their trawlers 12 months a year.

Not anymore. That's no longer affordable as Gulf shrimpers compete with cheaper product coming in from South America, China and India.

Wallis says he's only able to run his shrimp boats about half the year, yet “the bills keep coming every month.”

"We don’t get any subsidies here. We don’t need any help from the government. What we get for our product is what we have to make it on,” he said.

Wallis, who noted he voted for Trump, has watched the back-and-forth on tariffs in recent weeks.

“I don’t know where the tariffs are going to be settled at," he said, “but it’s definitely going to help."

But Trump's tariffs will also force shrimpers to balance the higher costs of equipment, such as trawl cables, webbing, chains and shackles. Some of those items have recently been increasing in price, Wallis said.

"We got be careful that there’s a good balance,” he said.

If the American shrimping industry collapses, Wallis sees a future where foreign trawlers are operating in the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump renamed the “ Gulf of America. ”

“I’m hanging on to have something when I retire,” said Wallis, who is 72. “If it keeps going like it is, it’s taken away from my retirement that I’ve worked for all my life.”

Phan Tran's family used to be shrimpers but quit the boats around 25 years ago to open Tran's Family Restaurant, a place they literally built themselves.

“It was just my dad, me and one welder,” Tran said.

Tran said he doesn't want to serve imported shrimp to his customers. He doesn't know what shortcuts foreign shrimper firms take.

“The taste, the size, you could tell the texture of the shrimp, everything. ... Domestic shrimp versus imported shrimp, you could tell the difference,” Tran said, adding he'll be buying straight from the day's catch at the dock, “as long as we have the restaurant business.”

Tariffs will help keep the market fair for local shrimpers, Tran said.

“We used to have a sign on our window here that says, ‘friends don’t let friends eat imported shrimp,’" Tran said. “And a few people got a little offended by it, so we had to take it off. (But) that's a true statement that we stand by here.”

Bowers, the shrimp farm owner, hopes seafood tariffs have a positive ripple effect across the industry for American producers.

“I think the price of imported seafood is gonna come up," he said. “And as that price comes up, it’ll make our seafood, our shrimp, more affordable for everybody else.”

Vertuno reported from Austin, Texas.

Bowers shrimp hatchery manager Kim Page holds a broodstock shrimp, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Palacios, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Shrimp are prepared for shipping at the Bowers Shrimp Processing plant, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Palacios, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Shrimp are prepared at the Bowers Shrimp Processing plant, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Palacios, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Reed Bowers, owner of Homegrown seafood, walks through his shrimp hatchery, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Palacios, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Shrimp are prepared for shipping at the Bowers Shrimp Processing plant, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Palacios, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Homegrown seafood shrimp farm manager Nerer Padro collects samples, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Palacios, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Manager Ken Garcia, left, visits a shrimp boat being refurbished for their Quality Seafood fleet, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Palacios, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Shrimp are prepared for shipping at the Bowers Shrimp Processing plant, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Palacios, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Bowers shrimp hatchery manager Kim Page holds a broodstock shrimp, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Palacios, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A shrimp boat is refurbished for Quality Seafood's fleet, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Palacios, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Shrimp are prepared for shipping at the Bowers Shrimp Processing plant, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Palacios, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Craig Wallis, owner of W&W Dock and Ice sits in the captain's seat of one of his docked shrimp boats, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Palacios, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Ken Garcia, manager of Quality Seafood, jumps off of a friend's shrimp[p boat, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Palacios, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

MADRID (AP) — Coco Gauff overpowered defending champion Iga Swiatek 6-1, 6-1 to reach the Madrid Open singles final for the first time Thursday.

Gauff broke Swiatek's serve three times in the first set and twice in the second to cruise to a 64-minute semifinal victory over the second-ranked Swiatek at the clay-court tournament.

Gauff will face top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-5 to reach the Madrid final for the fourth time in her career.

It was Gauff's first win over Swiatek on clay.

“The mentality that I had in the whole match was aggressive,” the fourth-ranked Gauff said. “Maybe it wasn't her best level today, but I think I forced her into some awkward positions.”

Swiatek had recovered from losing the first set 0-6 to Madison Keys on Wednesday.

“I couldn’t really get my level up,” the four-time French Open champion said. “Coco played good, but I think it’s on me that I didn’t really move well, I wasn’t ready to play back the shots with heaviness, and with that kind of game. It was pretty bad.”

The last time Swiatek won only two or fewer games in a match — on any surface — was a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Birmingham in 2019.

“For me," Gauff added, “it was just making sure my level stayed the same. In the second, I raised it.”

Sabalenka returned to the final after ending Svitolina's unbeaten run on clay this year — she was 9-0 on the surface in 2025, without losing a set.

Sabalenka won the title in Madrid in 2021 and 2023, and was runner-up to Swiatek last year.

Gauff is 5-4 against Sabalenka and won their only prior meeting on clay, in Rome in 2021. The American also won their most recent meeting, at the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh.

By beating Svitolina, Sabalenka became the first player to obtain 30 main-draw wins at WTA events in 2025.

In the men's quarterfinals, Casper Ruud advanced by defeating Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-5 to become the first player born in 1990 or later to reach 30 tour-level semifinals on clay.

The 15th-ranked Norwegian had been 0-3 against Medvedev in his career.

“I looked at our stats last night and saw he beat me on grass, outdoor hard and indoor hard. The last surface was clay so I thought, ‘please don’t make it 4-0,’” Ruud said. “I tried to use the surface to my advantage. I thought the level was pretty good from both players, I was impressed with Daniil’s ability to produce power here on clay."

Ruud will next face Francisco Cerundolo, who rallied to defeat teenager Jakub Mensik 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Cerundolo had beaten top-seeded Alexander Zverev in the previous round.

In another quarterfinal, fifth-ranked Jack Draper defeated Matteo Arnaldi 6-0, 6-4. Arnaldi had beaten Novak Djokovic in the second round. Draper will enter the top 5 in the rankings for the first time thanks to his run in Madrid. He will face 10th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti, who beat Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 6-3.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Iga Swiatek of Poland reacts during her match against United States' Coco Gauff during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

United States' Coco Gauff serves against Iga Swiatek of Poland during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Casper Ruud of Norway, left, shakes hands after winning against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Casper Ruud of Norway celebrates after winning against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Casper Ruud of Norway returns the ball against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Casper Ruud of Norway returns the ball against against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Russia's Daniil Medvedev returns the ball against Casper Ruud of Norway during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Iga Swiatek of Poland leaves the court after losing against United States' Coco Gauff during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

United States' Coco Gauff returns the ball to Iga Swiatek of Poland during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

United States' Coco Gauff returns the ball against Iga Swiatek of Poland during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)