The steep tariff hike imposed by US President Donald Trump on Indian exports to the US is expected to cost Andhra Pradesh nearly ₹25,000 crore in shrimp exports alone. Officials said that about 50 percent export orders have already been cancelled.
The tariffs by the US touch 59.72 percent after the Trump administration announced 25 percent additional tariffs over and above the 25 percent announced earlier in April, as well as the 5.76 percent countervailing duty and 3.96 percent anti-dumping duty.
With nearly ₹600 crore in tariff burden now falling on about 2,000 containers, the state’s Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, has sought the Centre’s intervention to alleviate the distress that the export crisis has caused in the state.
In separate letters to Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, and Fisheries Minister, Rajeev Ranjan Singh, Naidu suggested relief in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and extending of the Centre’s financial packages to Andhra Pradesh’s aqua farmers to indemnify them against the losses. Naidu also asked the farmers to consider looking at markets beyond the US.
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Andhra Pradesh accounts for almost 80 percent of the country’s shrimp exports and 34 percent of the total marine exports valued at around ₹21,246 crore annually. Over 30 lakh people are estimated to be dependent on shrimp exports and allied activities in the state.
Pointing out that aqua farmers and their families were facing hardships due to the tariffs, Naidu said that his government had already announced various relief measures – such as reducing the price of aqua feed by ₹9 per kg – while also considering other measures, including subsidising the price of transformers.
He has asked the Centre to facilitate bank support for exporters and aqua companies – including a 240-day moratorium on loan and interest repayments, interest subsidies, and a temporary waiver of the 5 percent GST on frozen shrimp. In addition, he has urged the Centre to focus on diversifying export markets beyond the US by having Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the European Union, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Russia to boost exports.
The chief minister also sought interim financial support for exporters, clarity on tariff/tax relief schemes, and noted that exporters were ready to supply seafood to the EU.
Owing to the uncertainty facing them, shrimp farmers across AP had already begun redirecting their harvested produce to domestic consumers. As a result, large quantities of shrimp appeared in local markets in Vijayawada, Eluru, Bhimavaram, Machilipatnam and other coastal towns, often sold directly by farmers or through middlemen at substantially reduced prices.
This situation placed immense financial pressure on farmers dealing with perishable stock and collapsing prices.
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