| (Washington, D.C., October 23, 2026) – Today, President Donald J. Trump announced the launch of the America First Seafood Strategy (PDF, 8.5 MB) and several actions the Trump Administration is taking to support the American seafood industry. Among these actions is the announcement that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making at least $5 billion available in loans through the Strengthening Processing for U.S. Ranchers (SPUR) Guaranteed Loan Program to expand, improve, and diversify the processing capacity of American meat, poultry, and seafood. “From our crabbers in Alaska, to the lobstermen in Maine, to the great shrimpers in the Gulf of America, our nation is blessed with incredible men and women who work to bring this bounty to our plates. The Trump Administration has recognized their incredible efforts and is working to provide all the necessary tools for them to succeed with our America First Seafood Strategy,” said Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins. “Today’s announcement expanding funding opportunities for seafood processing from USDA highlights our commitment to building out the resources needed for American seafood products to be readily available for consumers. We look forward to continuing to serve American fishermen through the USDA Office of Seafood we created earlier this year, building on President Trump’s America First vision.” Earlier this year, President Trump signed Executive Order 14424, Promoting Fair Competition in Livestock Markets and Expanding Market Access for American Meat Producers, to support American ranchers by reducing barriers to processing their product for sale to consumers. As directed in the Executive Order, USDA is taking actions to establish the SPUR Guaranteed Loan Program for small and regional beef processors to help continue operations, expand their footprint, and increase diversity of animal proteins being processed. Additionally, President Trump signed Executive Order 14276, Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness, that directed the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, to develop and implement an America First Seafood Strategy to promote production, marketing, sale, and export of American seafood and strengthen domestic processing capacity. In addition to supporting implementation of these two Executive Orders, the launch of the SPUR Guaranteed Loan Program is another step USDA is taking to support small, independent, and regional meat and poultry processing plants and advance the Rancher First Initiative announced last month that puts American ranchers back at the center of our nation’s food supply. Further, the inclusion of seafood processing in the SPUR Guaranteed Loan Program is an important step towards integrating the seafood industry into USDA programs following the creation of the USDA Office of Seafood earlier this year. The SPUR Guaranteed Loan Program will provide a 90 percent loan guarantee to commercial lenders, enabling them to offer financing to eligible borrowers to expand, improve, and diversify their processing capacity for American meat, poultry, and seafood. The maximum amount that a borrower may receive is $175 million and loans under this program may allow for a two-year deferral of principal and interest payments. This program will be available to federal and state-chartered banks, savings and loan associations, farm credit banks with direct lending authority, and credit unions. The organizations eligible to apply to these lenders for a guaranteed loan are businesses, nonprofits, cooperatives, Indian tribes, and state and local government organizations. For more information about the SPUR Guaranteed Loan Program, please contact your local USDA Rural Development office. To apply for this program, lenders can follow the instructions at https://www.rd.usda.gov/onerdguarantee. |
