Indian marine farms say shrimps safe after US makes contamination claims

Indian marine farms, key suppliers of shrimp to the US, are subjected to several safety standards, traceability norms and global protocols, some introduced in the past two years, government officials and exporters said on Wednesday in response to American health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr's charge that South Asian seafood was contaminated.

- Zia Haq

Kennedy Jr, a Trump cabinet member, made the comments Tuesday during a televised Cabinet meeting at the White House, accusing South Asian nations of “dumping shrimp” sold at Walmart, a US supermarket chain.

India is a major exporter of shrimps to the US accounting for 40% of domestic seafood consumption, and is bracing for the impact of an effective tariff rate of 50% imposed by Trump. A levy of 25% took effect on August land another 25% kicked in on Wednesday.