Seafood exporters weather US tariff storm, but uncertainty lingers

Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act. “Until last week, we were really worried about that 100% tariff. Last evening’s announcement was a quick relief,” said Thota, whose company, Jagadeesh Marine Exports, counts the US as its largest market for shrimp and other seafood exports. “We got a bit of relief, but we are not fully comfortable because every day some new things keep coming up,” he added. In many ways, Thota’s sentiments reflect the mood across India’s $8.28-billion seafood export industry.

Over the past year, Trump has threatened India with tariffs ranging from 10% to as high as 100%, including punitive duties linked to its purchases of Russian oil. While several threats did not translate into actual duties, repeated shifts in trade policy unsettled exporters and prompted US buyers to reassess their sourcing strategies. India’s seafood exports touched a record $8.46 billion (₹73,890 crore) in FY26, despite the turbulence in the largest market.

“The tariff issues in the US market affected India’s seafood exports to the US during FY26, with shipments declining 20% in volume and 14.22% in value. However, this was offset by increased exports to the EU and China,” said P Jawahar, chairman of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA). For exporters, diversification was not just a long-term strategy but an immediate necessity. “We had no option but to diversify our exports to the European Union, Southeast Asia and the Middle East to offset some of the losses because of huge inventories,” said Alex K.

Ninan, partner at Kerala-based Baby Marine Group. The push to find alternative markets paid off in the current fiscal, too. India’s seafood exports rose 13% year-on-year to $4.5 billion in April-September FY27, with shipments to the EU, China, Japan, Vietnam and other markets gaining momentum. Thota, too, has reduced his dependence on the US. “We have diversified our exports to Europe, Russia and China.

The share of US business is now 50%, down from 80% at one point,” he said. The EU approved 21 additional Indian fishery establishments for exports, taking the total number of EU-approved Indian fishery export units to 625 across Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha and Maharashtra. Trade sources said the approval of these units would further boost shipments, particularly of aquaculture shrimp and cephalopods, to the European market.

Despite these diversification efforts, challenges remain. The US is still India’s largest seafood export market, accounting for more than a fourth of exports by both volume and value. Frozen shrimp alone contributes 67% of the country’s seafood export earnings, making the US market difficult to replace. According to Jawahar, the market offers substantially better returns than other destinations, encouraging exporters to prioritise or divert consignments to the US, sometimes at the expense of markets such as the EU.

Shipments to the US rose 1% to $1.25 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal, following the lifting of the 50% reciprocal tariff and its replacement with an import surcharge, followed by a 10% tariff under Section 301. The US accounted for 34% of India’s total seafood exports during the period. China, meanwhile, offers an outlet for large volumes but presents its own pricing challenges.

“China takes large volumes, but pricing remains a challenge because Ecuadorian shipments also account for 70% of the Chinese market,” Thota said. Competition from Ecuador is increasingly evident in the US, where it has overtaken India as the largest supplier of shrimp. Ecuador’s shrimp exports to the US rose 32% year-on-year to 195,023 metric tonnes (MT) between January and August, surpassing India’s shipments of 177,994 MT, according to industry intelligence platform Shrimp Insights.

India led the market in 2025, exporting 300,051 MT compared with Ecuador’s 231,804 MT. Regaining lost ground will depend not only on tariff changes but also on India’s ability to compete beyond price. Thota believes Indian exporters retain an advantage in value-added products because Ecuador’s processing facilities have yet to be upgraded sufficiently to produce them. “When they find ways of getting into new products, that might be a big threat to Indian exporters in the long run,” he said.

Indian exporters will therefore need to focus more on higher-realisation products, including battered and ready-to-eat seafood, where differentiation and processing can help them compete on factors beyond price alone. For now, however, exporters are prioritising stability over rapid growth. Thota does not expect a sharp increase in industry volumes in the near term. “Surviving and sustaining volumes is our only focus now,” he said.

For an industry buffeted by tariff threats, shifting buyer preferences and intensifying competition from Ecuador, maintaining export volumes has become an achievement in itself. The immediate task is not simply to reclaim lost ground in the US but to sustain business across markets while building a stronger foothold in higher-value seafood products.