This announcement comes amid the 19 percent for Indonesia and 20 percent for Vietnam declared by the administration one week ago.
India is the single largest supplier of foreign shrimp to the US market, accounting for over 37 percent of the total volume of shrimp imports since 2017. In 2024, the United States imported roughly $2.3 billion worth of Indian-origin shrimp. The large flood of farm-raised Indian shrimp into the US 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.
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.
“Indian shrimp imports have devastated the U.S. commercial shrimp industry. 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,” said John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, in a press release.
Shifting US seafood trade policy
President Trump’s latest tariffs announcements represent a fundamental shift in US seafood trade policy. Federal data shows that 94 percent of all seafood – and 93 percent of shrimp – consumed in the US is imported.
“For decades, we have made it difficult for our fishermen to operate while foreign suppliers, who are not held to the same high standards, enjoyed unfettered access to American consumers,” Williams explained.
The new tariffs aim to rebalance this by offsetting the cost advantages of imports produced under less rigorous environmental and labor regulations. The recent US-Indonesia agreement, for example, includes commitments to strengthen labour enforcement, address forced labour and combat illegal fishing.
Tariffs expected to boost domestic production
For years, the US seafood market has served as a dumping ground for excess foreign supply. Prior to April 2025, most shrimp imports entered duty-free, apart from existing antidumping measures.
That changed with the introduction of reciprocal tariffs. In May – the most recent month with available data – nearly $24 million in calculated duties were reported on warmwater shrimp imports under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) code 0306.17 (raw, uncooked warmwater shrimp imports both shell-on and peeled).
Across the broader seafood sector, the impact is even more pronounced: $150 million in duties were levied on $2.4 billion in imports, pushing the effective duty rate above 6 percent, compared to historical rates of just 1 to 2 percent.
“President Trump’s bold actions provide real hope that not only can America’s shrimpers get back to work producing a superior-tasting, local seafood but that, after years of watching friends and neighbours leave the industry, we will start to see new investment in the world’s most sustainable wild-caught warmwater shrimp fishery,” said Williams.
© SSA
