Executives at one of Ecuador’s largest and most respected seafood exporters are still left to wonder why they were the targets of Biden-era visa revocations, while China uses Chile’s seafood market to circumvent U.S. trade restrictions.
The situation highlights inconsistencies in U.S. enforcement of trade policy in South America.
Despite growing concern over China’s use of Chile as a gateway to the American market, executives from Ecuador’s Negocios Industriales Real S.A. (NIRSA) remain barred from traveling to the United States years after their visas were revoked without formal explanation.
The Biden administration canceled the visas of executives at NIRSA without publicly disclosing any specific reason. Th U.S. government to date has not issued any public findings of wrongdoing, sanctions, or trade violations involving the company or its executives.
The visa revocations have disrupted NIRSA’s expansion plans, reported Federal Newswire.
“We are very keen to enter the U.S. market and build our business there—but how can we?” said Roberto Aguirre, president of the board of directors of NIRSA. “I cannot even travel to the U.S., and I was never told by the Biden administration why.”
”It has mystified us,” Aguirre said.
While specific volume data is limited, trade estimates indicate that NIRSA exports between 4,000 and 7,000 metric tons of shrimp annually to the U.S. market, based on figures from Shrimp Insights. Ecuador, as a whole, exported roughly 229,580 metric tons of tuna in 2023—valued at $1.19 billion—with the U.S. ranking among its largest buyers, according to StatLedger Market Research.
NIRSA is a founding member of TUNACONS, a coalition of companies committed to responsible tuna fishing. The company also a member of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, and operates one of the region’s most advanced seafood facilities in Posorja, Ecuador. The facility processes around 250 metric tons of seafood per day, with plans to expand to 300, according to Seafood Media.
Meanwhile, China’s seafood sector has expanded its reach in Latin America, using Chile as a strategic partner to access the U.S. market despite escalating tariffs.
Chinese seafood companies and investors have increased their investments in Chile, bolstering their access to the U.S. market through the existing trade agreements between Chile and the United States.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) has called for stronger action against China’s tactics, saying in the Lafayette Reporter that “vigorous enforcement” is needed to stop China from using Chile as a proxy.
Higgins said that China’s use of Chile “poses a significant threat to American industries and the integrity of our trade policies.”
While NIRSA continues to export seafood products to the U.S. market” and “remains in compliance with American import standards,’ the situation has strained business operations.
As the Trump administration signals a renewed focus on trade enforcement, the visa restrictions against NIRSA executives highlight broader concerns that inconsistent policies could damage trusted partnerships in Latin America — even as strategic competitors like China continue to exploit regional loopholes.