On June 11, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that Shandong Meijia Group and two of its subsidiaries - Rizhao Meijia Aquatic Foods Co. and Rizhao Meijia Keyuan Foods Co. - had been placed on the sanctions list on the grounds that they were involved in forced labor. Shandong Meijia Group is a major exporter of Argentine red shrimp, which is sold primarily to the United States and Canada.

In a statement, DHS Deputy Secretary Robert Silvers said, "With today's sanctions action, we are reaffirming the U.S. position of zero tolerance for forced labor commodities. It is the responsibility of importing companies to conduct due diligence to ensure that their supply chains do not involve forced labor. The DHS Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) will continue to list the companies involved as entities under the U.Va. Workers' Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and increase enforcement efforts at ports."

Earlier this year, the U.S. Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) submitted a petition to the FLETF requesting that eight Chinese companies, including Shandong Meijia Group and its subsidiaries, be placed on the UFLPA sanctions list. The sanctions action was welcomed by the SSA, which was represented by Nathan Ricard, who noted that, based on a review of product bills of lading and shipping documents, approximately 12 million pounds (32 percent) of Argentine red shrimp are processed in China and exported as Argentine product.

In total, the United States imported about 31.5 million pounds (14,300 tons) of Argentine red shrimp in 2023, down from the 2020 peak of 38.2 million pounds. Since last year, more than 265 containers of Argentine red shrimp have been shipped to the U.S. These products compete with the U.S. shrimping industry in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic.

In a statement, SSA mentioned, "These wild red shrimp are sold in restaurants and grocery stores across the U.S., but are not labeled as having been produced in seafood processing plants in China and using V.I.P. labor."

Ricard said in an interview that it is unclear why these Argentine red shrimp were transported over long distances to China for processing and then shipped back to the United States. He also noted that the descriptions of many imports become more vague from 2024 onward, making it difficult for the U.S. market to discern whether these Argentine red shrimp were processed in China.