Members of the seafood industry and policymakers in India are calling for the sector to continue market diversification as U.S. tariffs have hit the industry hard.
Products from India currently face a 50 percent tariff in the U.S., and while some reports indicated that there were talks to reduce that rate to 15 percent, that reduction has not yet materialized. As a result, trade patterns for Indian seafood – especially shrimp – have had to shift dramatically due to India now competing with countries with much lower tariff barriers.
India was the largest source of shrimp for the U.S. in 2024, sending 296,104 metric tons (MT) of shrimp to the country in the year – well above the second-largest source Ecuador, which shipped 187,040 MT.
“The U.S. has long been India’s biggest market for shrimp exports, which constitute the bulk of the country’s seafood trade,” A J Tharakan, with Seafood Exporters Association of India, said during an industry meeting at the Fourth International Symposium on Marine Ecosystems. “However, the new tariff regime, coupled with sustainability and traceability challenges has disrupted trade flows and affected export earnings.”
The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) said India has faced a major setback due to the tariffs, and that during the meeting the industry called for more diversification to offset the challenges and prevent future ones.
Marine Products Export Development Authority Director Ram Mohan said the U.S. was India’s largest seafood market, but exports declined 6 percent between April and September 2025, while China, Vietnam, and Thailand saw sharp growth.
“Combined with anti-dumping and countervailing duties, the effective tariff now stands at 58.26 percent, severely denting India’s competitiveness in its top export destination,” Mohan said.
Central Institute of Fisheries Technology Director George Ninan said at the event that industry must innovate if it wants to continue making progress.
“A robust technology-driven startup ecosystem in the fisheries sector is very much required, integrating the efforts of researchers, technologists, industry, and policymakers to drive innovation and value addition,” Ninan said.
Part of that change should involve moving past commodity sales of bulk seafood toward value addition – with CMFRI saying event attendees suggested things like breaded squid rings and surimi to “ready-to-eat seafood fillets.” India’s value-added shipments of seafood to the U.S. lag behind China, Thailand, Vietnam, Ecuador, and Indonesia, CMFRI said.
