Southern Shrimp Alliance Applauds Announcement of 25% Tariffs on Indian Imports

The Southern Shrimp Alliance declares its strong support for President Trump’s statement that an additional 25% tariff will be imposed on imports from India beginning on August 1.

India is the single largest supplier of foreign shrimp to the U.S. market, accounting for over 37% of the total volume of shrimp imports since 2017.  Last year, the United States imported roughly $2.3 billion worth of Indian-origin shrimp. The large flood of farm-raised Indian shrimp into the U.S. market has undermined dockside prices for American shrimpers with devastating consequences, forcing hundreds of family-owned shrimp boats to remain tied to the dock.

Despite wholesale shrimp prices falling to record lows, retail prices have remained historically high since the pandemic, according to a September 2024 report from the Sustainability Incubator.

Major Shrimp Suppliers Subjected to New Tariffs

The new tariffs on India complement recent trade agreements with Indonesia (19% tariffs) and Vietnam (20% tariffs) that will help revitalize America’s commercial shrimp industry. Combined, these three countries accounted for roughly two-thirds of the volume (64.7%) of U.S. shrimp imports last year, with India at 38.4%, Indonesia at 17.4%, and Vietnam at 8.9%.

These tariffs will be imposed in addition to existing antidumping and countervailing duties applied to Indian and Vietnamese shrimp and antidumping duties applied to Indonesian shrimp.

Addressing Decades of Market Imbalance

“Indian shrimp imports have devastated the U.S. commercial shrimp industry,” stated John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “President Trump’s announcement of significant additional tariffs on imports from India offers a vital lifeline to shrimpers across the Gulf of America and South Atlantic that allows them to go back to work, harvesting a wholesome, nutritious product for American families.”

The domestic shrimp industry has faced mounting challenges from foreign competition that has lowered costs through the adoption of forced labor practices, abuse of banned antibiotics and fungicides, and caused massive harm to the environment. These issues have not only undermined American producers but also negatively affected consumer demand for shrimp products. The tariffs are expected to increase U.S. food security and provide consumers with greater access to well-managed U.S. wild-caught shrimp. 

Ending Counter-Productive Trade Policies

President Trump’s recent announcements represent a fundamental shift in U.S. seafood trade policy. According to federal data, 94% of all seafood – and 93% of shrimp specifically – consumed in the United States comes from overseas.

“For decades, we’ve made it difficult for our fishermen to operate while foreign suppliers, who aren’t held to the same high standards, enjoyed unfettered access to American consumers,” Williams explained. “Most seafood importers, retailers, and restaurants went after the cheapest possible supply they could find, increasing their margins no matter how unethically this seafood was produced or brought to market.” 

President Trump’s tariffs fundamentally change this dynamic by immediately offsetting the benefits of imbalanced production standards.  The Joint Statement between the United States and Indonesia includes commitments from Indonesia to adopt laws prohibiting the importation of goods produced through forced or compulsory labor, improve enforcement of its labor laws, and combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Additional Duties Likely to Spur Increased U.S. Production of Seafood

Over the last thirty years, the U.S. market has been a dumping ground for seafood produced overseas. Overcapacity in particular sectors of aquaculture production has been propped up by the ease with which excess seafood could be sold into the United States. 

President Trump’s tariffs fundamentally change this dynamic.

Prior to April 2025, outside of antidumping and countervailing duties, imports of shrimp were made on a duty-free basis. With the announcement of reciprocal tariffs on imports, significant calculated duties began to be reported in official U.S. import statistics. 

In May, the most recent month for which data are available, nearly $24 million in calculated duties were reported on shrimp imports categorized under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) code 0306.17 (raw, uncooked warmwater shrimp imports both shell-on and peeled).