Indian marine exporters maintain that the likely turnaround of the US economy under the presidency of Donald Trump may benefit seafood exports, as it would lead to increased consumption especially shrimp products. Currently, the market there is sluggish with surplus stocks across supermarkets due to a slowdown.

Shaji Baby John, MD&CEO of Kings Infra Ventures, said the US is the biggest market for seafood and India’s shrimp exports were to the tune of $2.9 billion last year with 40 per cent of the country’s total seafood shipped to that country. South America is dumping seafood products into the US markets with Ecuador giving a competitive advantage. But the drop in shrimp production in the South American country would help Indian products make further inroads to the US market, he added.

However, Pawan Kumar G., national president of Seafood Exporters Association of India, says that Trump is in favour of imposing duties not only to seafood imports but also in general. It is too early to say how it is going to impact the sector. There are chances and fear in the industry. At the same time, Trump in his election campaign had maintained that there could be more tariffs for importing countries.

“Being a friend of India, I personally feel that he may look at more rationally”, Pawan Kumar adds.

With the introduction of Vannaemi shrimps in India in 2010, the sources in the sector said that the US was the major market for Indian shrimps till 2021, achieving a sustained growth. From $1.2 billion in 2013-14, the figure has reached $2.6 billion in 2021-22. However, in the last three years, shrimp shipments from Ecuador have gained acceptance in the US market because of their higher production, aiding them to dump at cheaper prices and that country’s close proximity to the US coast which reduced shipping cost. For India, the Red Sea crisis has brought more logistical delays to seafood shipments to the US markets.

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