Until last weekend, Jagadish Thota had little clarity on what his business would look like even two months ahead. “We had some existing orders till October 2025. After that our business to the US was nil. There was no visibility for February and March either,” said Thota, promoter of Jagadeesh Marine Exports.
All that changed with a tweet. US President Donald Trump on Monday sharply reduced tariffs on Indian exports to 18% from 50%, making India competitive against rival shrimp-exporting countries such as Ecuador and Indonesia overnight.
“Things will change dramatically in the coming days. I’ve been getting more enquiries from the US since last night,” Thota, who runs a shrimp processing unit in Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh, said. The US once accounted for nearly 70% of his company’s revenue, but now makes up barely 10%.
Shrimp value chain
The entire shrimp value chain had come to a near standstill after the US imposed a punitive 50% tariff on Indian exports in August 2025. The move hit Andhra Pradesh particularly hard. The state accounts for nearly 80% of India’s shrimp exports, with close to 70% of its shipments destined for the US market. Shrimp exports from Andhra Pradesh in 2024–25 stood at over 3.6 lakh metric tonnes, valued at more than ₹21,000 crore.
Beyond shrimp, India’s seafood exporters are set for a fresh catch of opportunities after the US lowered tariffs to 18%, bringing the country in line with rivals such as Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
“We are confident that with the conclusion of the trade deal and lowering of tariffs to 18%, quantum of export of seafood from India to USA will show an increase and soon reach back to the previous levels,” said G. Pawan Kumar, President, Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI).
In FY25, India’s seafood exports, largely frozen shrimp, stood at $7.4 billion, with the US accounting for 38% or $2.78 billion. Overall seafood shipments declined 6.3% year-on-year during April–November of FY26, with exporters blaming the steep US tariff for the drop in volumes.
India’s seafood exports
The bulk of India’s seafood exports to the US comprises ‘Vannamei shrimp’. Ecuador, meanwhile, holds a 19% share of the US’ annual seafood imports, valued at around $6 billion.
Despite the US tariff shock, India’s marine product exports rose over 15% year-on-year to $6.56 billion during April–December 2025–26, driven by a sharp surge in shipments to newer markets such as Vietnam and Belgium, a commerce ministry official had said.
“Diversification is helping. Shrimp exports to Europe have risen 26% over the last six months. But no country can replace the US because of the sheer volumes and prices they pay,” Thota noted. Typically, fresh contracts for shrimp exports are signed in January. This year, India lost many of these contracts to Ecuador and Indonesia due to their tariff advantage. “With the revised tariffs, we expect buyers to come back in a big way,” Thota said.
Earlier, trade officials had warned that effective duties on Indian seafood exports to the US could rise as high as 59.71%, including countervailing duties (5.76%), anti-dumping duties (3.96%) and the 50% tariff announced by President Trump.
Separately, industry executives see fresh opportunities emerging in Europe. Preferential market access and the proposed abolition of existing duties in the range of 4.2% to 7.5% under the India–EU trade deal could unlock the European marine products market, valued at $53.6 billion annually.
KN Raghavan, Secretary General, Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) noted that marine products exports to EU, the third-largest destination of seafood shipment, is likely to double over the next few years while currently annual shipment is valued at around $ 1 billion.
“We have already crossed over $ 1 billion value of exports during April-November period of FY26 and overall shipment is expected to cross a record $ 1.5 billion to EU in FY26,” Raghavan added.