Seafood exports from A.P. hit following Trump’s tariff hike

Shipment of seafood products was halted for the last 24 hours on Friday; farmers, exporters keeping their fingers crossed as duty has been raised to 26 per cent

Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a hike in tariff on various products, export of aqua products from Andhra Pradesh to the U.S. was badly hit.

Shipment of seafood products was halted for the last 24 hours on Friday, as Donald Trump announced 26% tariff on aqua products.

Aquaculture farmers and exporters said that seafood exports were completely stopped from A.P., which was one of the major contributors to the country’s aqua business. Farmers said that exporters were not taking stocks after the tariff hike in the U.S., and were in panic situation as the stocks were perishable.

In 2023-24, India exported 17,81,602 metric tonnes (MT) of seafood worth ₹60,52,389 crore ($7.38 billion) to the U.S., which was 34.53% of the total seafood exports from India. Andhra Pradesh’s share in the total global seafood exports to all countries was about 33%, say Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) officials.

India shipped 2,97,571 MT of frozen shrimp to the U.S., which was the largest market, followed by 1,48,483 MT to China, 89,697 MT to European Union and 52,254 MT to Southeast Asia.

Speaking to The Hindu on Friday, Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) Andhra Pradesh president K. Anand Kumar said that exporters were in panic after the tariff hike announcement by the U.S. President.

“In addition to the tariff, we have to pay anti-dumping and countervailing duties, which take the total taxes to 34% on exports to the U.S.. We request the Union government to step in to control the damage,” Mr. Anand Kumar said.

“Exporters have stopped procuring the stocks after the tariff hike. In many tanks, shrimp is ready for harvest and farmers are worried over the situation,” said a farmer, K. Shankar of Konaseema area.

Commissioner of Fisheries, Ramashankar Naik, said the farmers, who were in distress over the developments in the international market, were making frantic calls and enquiring over the seafood export situation. “About 50 lakh persons are employed in aqua sector in the State. We are appraising the present situation to the Centre and making all efforts to save the farmers from losses,” the Commissioner said.

Exporters say that Ecuador, which was the major competitor to India in seafood exports, was paying only 10% tariff. Many traders have closed their business due to losses, they said.

“The cost of 100 count shrimp, which was ₹235 a kg on Wednesday, came down to ₹195 on Friday. Price of 60 to 70 count which was about ₹300 had fallen to ₹210 suddenly,” says Peddi Rama Rao, a farmer from Krishna district.

“If the State and the Central governments did not respond immediately, aqua sector in AP will be in dire straits, and some lakhs of families will come on to the roads,” says a cold storage owner, Shiva of West Godavari district.

Traders say that many seafood containers were stranded in various ports after Trump announced the hike in tariff, causing huge loss.

Published - April 04, 2025 09:36 pm IST