The Fish Site team is reporting live from the event
That was the key message of an entertaining, but alarming, presentation by Rabobank’s Jan Lamprecht, which marked the opening of the fourth Global Shrimp Forum in Utrecht yesterday. It's a message that might not be welcomed by many in the shrimp sector, but one that the sector needs to understand.
While many people suppose the tariffs are a temporary blip, Lamprecht warned that they are unlikely to be reversed any time soon
As he explained: “Once governments have more income streams, they never give them up, right? Not easily at least.”
Equally, he warned that we can’t rely on courts blocking them, noting that “Even if at the highest level, the Supreme Court… would say this is illegal, then the Trump advice will find a way around it… Whatever it takes, wherever it takes us.”
Lamprecht was followed by Robert de Haan, executive vice-president and general counsel at National Fisheries Institute, who noted that the US shrimp sector is bracing for turbulence as the new tariffs hit some of the country’s largest suppliers and added that the executive-driven measures could reshape the market in ways that few anticipated.
De Haan explained that tariffs vary widely, and are often tied to the policies of the shrimp producing nations.
“Most recently, India has another 25 percent tacked on for non-economic purposes, and that pertains to their purchase of Russian energy products. So India is currently suffering the largest number,” he explained.
Shrimp imports make up a major portion of US seafood consumption, and suppliers from Asia are among the hardest hit. According to de Haan, the scope of the tariffs is unprecedented. “This demonstrates the massive impact of these executive orders across our economy,” he said.
The administration views the tariffs as both a negotiating tool and a form of protection for American workers, de Haan added.
“The President’s answer to that question is yes, it’s both. They want a reduced goods trade deficit, they want an increase in manufacturing’s share of the economy, and they want real median incomes to rise.”
As a result, shrimp suppliers – and US seafood consumers – face rising costs and an unsettled outlook.
