Data released last week by NOAA Fisheries showed that U.S. shrimp imports in July declined by more than eight percent as compared to figures from a year ago.
In all, the United States brought in 55,952 metric tons (MT) of shrimp from 35 countries, down from 61,021 MT in July 2017. India, the leading importer to the United States, saw an increase in the amount of shrimp it sent to the U.S.. However, the next five countries reported fewer imports – some of them drastic.
The decline comes at a time when the United States is preparing to bring shrimp into the Seafood Import Monitoring Program by the end of the calendar year. It also comes during a time when the Trump administration has proposed dramatically raising tariffs on seafood imports. In July, Trump announced a 10 percent increase on seafood coming in from China. U.S. lawmakers have also pushed for legislation that would increase tariffs specifically
Chinese shrimp imports declined by nearly 5.8 percent in July to 4,293 MT, a difference of 263 metric tons. That drop also led to the year-to-date figure to fall slightly behind 2017’s pace. Through the first seven months of the year, the U.S. received 24,213 metric tons of shrimp from China, as compared to 24,417 in 2017.
Of the leading importers, Thailand saw the biggest decrease. This year, just 3,301 metric tons came in from the Asian nation during the month as compared to 7,278 metric tons in July 2017. It continues a downward trend of Thai imports as for through July, the U.S. has received just 24,799 metric tons. That’s more than 33 percent fewer shrimp than last year.
Vietnam reported a 21.9 percent drop in July, with 4,444 MT imported. For the year, Vietnamese imports are down by 7.8 percent at 25,943 MT.
Imports from Ecuador fell by 14.4 percent to 5,894 MT. Like China, the July decline was enough to push the year-to-date figures below last year’s totals. Currently, the country has shipped 42,907 metric tons, compared to 43,896 metric tons last year. That’s a 2.3 percent difference.
Indonesia, the second-largest importer, saw its imports drop by 12 percent to 9,331 MT. Still, though, the country has seen its shrimp shipments increase by 12.4 percent to 75,285 MT over the first seven months of the year.
Leading importer India shipped 23,512 MT of shrimp to the U.S. in July, a 14.7 percent increase from last year. Year-to-date imports are up 17.7 percent for the year, from 106,194 MT last year to 124,953 MT.
The top six countries combine to represent 88.7 percent of the shrimp the U.S. has imported this year.
