Publicly listed seafood companies in Vietnam saw shares drop dramatically on 3 April after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 46 percent tariff rate on all goods from the country.
Government officials in Vietnam said they were shocked by the high rate, and the VN-Index, representing the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), plunged 6.68 percent to 1,229.84 on 3 April – the sharpest decline in the index’s history.
Listed seafood companies were among the hardest hit as the main market for many companies in Vietnam is the U.S. Vietnam was the fifth-largest exporter of seafood to the U.S. by value in 2024, and the tariff rate would have cost U.S. importers an additional USD 718 million (EUR 651 million) had they been in place last year.
Share prices of leading shrimp exporter Minh Phu Seafood dropped 14.5 percent on 3 April, pangasius producer Vinh Hoan’s shares dropped 6.85 percent, pangasius producer Navico was down 6.97 percent, pangasius company I.D.I was down 6.99 percent, and shrimp company Fimex (Sao Ta) dropped 6.9 percent.
According to an update from industry blog Shrimp Insights on 3 April, if the latest U.S. reciprocal tariff is effective, Vietnamese shrimp entering the U.S. will face total import fees of 74.6 percent. That total is made up of the new 46 percent reciprocal tax, on top of existing anti-dumping and countervailing duties.
Vietnamese shrimp has faced 25.76 percent antidumping tariffs since early 2005 – though the U.S. Department of Commerce has exempted certain companies. The remainder of that 74.6 percent is made up of a 2.84 percent of countervailing duty that the DOC instituted in November 2024.
Shrimp Insights said Vietnam – along with Indonesia and Thailand, which also face reciprocal tariffs – will have an uphill battle in the U.S. market, especially as they are already facing high production costs, elevated U.S. tariffs, and strong competition from Ecuador and India in other export markets.
The reciprocal tariffs of 46 percent imposed on Vietnam came as a shock to Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Phung Duc Tien, despite earlier comments that Vietnam would likely be facing higher rates, he said on the sidelines of a conference on 3 April, cited by Tuoitre News.
Vietnam’s seafood would be one of the sectors hardest hit by this high rate, Tien said. He added that Vietnam’s seafood exports to the U.S. totaled over USD 300 million (EUR 271 million) in the first three months this year, comprising around 15 percent of total value in the period.
The issue of U.S. tariffs prompted several industry associations in Vietnam to call emergency meetings on 3 April, Tienphong newspaper reported. A representative from Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said the association was “shocked” and had grave concerns about the tariff.
"The continued imposition of a reciprocal tax on Vietnam at 46 percent is a very worrying development. The association is discussing with its members to specifically assess the impact of this tax rate," the VASEP representative told the newspaper.
Thuan Phuoc Seafoods and Trading Corporation Board Chairman Tran Van Linh told Tien Phong that the seafood business community was very surprised by the 46 percent reciprocal tax proposed by the U.S.
“This level also makes it impossible for businesses to enter the U.S., because the more they export, the more they lose. Currently, the U.S. market accounts for more than 20 percent of our total revenue, so with this situation in the near future, businesses must also study to reduce the proportion and change the market direction,” Linh was quoted as saying by Tien Phong newspaper.
According to Tuoitre News, a manager from a seafood company in Nha Trang City said that the only solution for his company is to cease exports to the U.S. due to the high tariff. He explained that when the U.S. imposed antidumping tariffs of 25.76 percent on seafood from Vietnam, many Vietnamese seafood companies decided to halt exports to the U.S. and shift to other markets.
Minh Phu CEO Le Van Quang told SeafoodSource on 3 April that if implemented, the U.S. reciprocal tariff will hit seafood exports from Vietnam hard. However, in recent years, the U.S. has slipped to become the third- or fourth-largest market for Minh Phu, as a result of the company’s deliberate market diversification strategy.
Minh Phu pursued this shift because, despite shipping a large volume of shrimp products to the U.S., the profit did not match expectations. Therefore, the U.S. now accounts for just between 15 and 18 percent of Minh Phu’s total export value, a sharp decline from between 38 and 42 percent in the past.
Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has established a rapid reaction team led by Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son to deal with the situation, the government said.
The government will also send Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc to visit the U.S. and Cuba from 6 to 14 April.
