Shrimps, tariffs, fragile coastal economies

INDIA'S OVERDEPENDENCE ON THE US MARKET FOR SHRIMP EXPORTS REFLECTS A BROADER LACK OF DIVERSIFICATION IN TRADE STRATEGY

- Charudutta Panigrahi

The recent imposition of a 50 per cent (actual impact is about 60 per cent) tariff on Indian shrimp exports by the United States—part of a broader retaliatory framework linked to India’s energy trade with Russia—has wreaked a critical fault line in India’s export architecture.

While the headline impact is economic, the deeper consequences are strategic, structural, and human.

India exported approximately $5 billion worth of shrimp in FY25, with the US accounting for nearly 48 per cent of that volume. Odisha, a key contributor to this figure, now faces a projected 60 per cent contraction in viable exports. The tariff hike—stacked atop existing anti-dumping and countervailing duties—has rendered Indian shrimp uncompetitive, with total levies nearing 60 per cent. Export volumes are expected to fall by 15-18 per cent, and revenues by up to 20 per cent.