‘So much pain’: India’s shrimp farmers are troubled by American tariffs
While landing in the water of a shrimp pond in India’s south-eastern coastal state of Andhra Pradesh, dozens of people were joking and playing seats, and trying to catch as much shrimp as possible and pulling a big trap behind them.
In August, a deep concern was hidden over 50 percent of tariffs imposed by the United States on Indian exports in August, which has caused heavy damage to India’s frozen shrimp industry.
“Everyone is desperate,” Bhaskar Kokkiligadda said, one of the daily workers, who works in various shrimp farms in the area near Pedapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, surrounded by Godavari River which flows in the nearby Bay of Bengal.
Before the tariff came into force, the US was India’s largest customer for shrimp exports, which had a slightly more than 40 percent of the market. According to India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, sales in the 2023–24 financial year were higher than $ 2.5 billion US ($ 3.5 billion CDN).
Now, the shrimp is being harvested sporadically and most of what is brought out is put on ice and storage containers, causing the shipment to stop mostly in the US.
Kokkiligadda said that some workers who are dependent on shrimp harvesting are voluntarily cutting wages and others are turning to jobs, even if they know that they do not need them, they will be able to earn a few extra money.
He said, “Earlier I had 20 days (one month) work. Now it has been reduced to only 10 days.” “I don’t know how I am managing.”
India’s shrimp industry is responsible for more than a million jobs in export companies, shrimp processing plants and hundreds of small -scale fields.
The pain is particularly acute in Andhra Pradesh, where India’s 75 to 85 percent shrimp According to industry data, it is produced, most of which goes directly to shipping containers sent to the United States.
Tariff doubled
The initial tariff on Indian exports was fixed at 25 percent, but was later doubled by US President Donald Trump as a penalty for the purchase of Russian crude oil by India to 50 percent.
This has given a competitive lead to India’s main international rival Ecuador for shrimp exports, which is dealing with 15 percent tariffs.
Praveen Sabbineni, who employed several hundred workers in three farms in Andhra Pradesh, said, “We were already suffering from (25 percent fee).”
He said that the price he received for his shrimp is about 40 percent low and it is forcing many farmers to seriously consider the shrimp cultivation. Other people are working to develop other export markets, but that process may take months.
“We are feeling very painful.”
‘Very difficult times’
This is worse for most of India’s shrimp farmers, who have small pieces of land.
“This is a very difficult time,” Adukal Basani, a shrimp farmer who owns a pond built on 0.4 hectares of land, told CBC News.
He recently harvested 200 kg of shrimp, but due to heavy American tariffs he found no one to sell it.
Basani, 45, said, “It was ruined.” “It was very disappointing. I didn’t want to throw it.”
The US was India’s top export market for shrimp, but 50 percent export duty brought by the Trump administration has severely damaged the industry. Some farmers have faced a price cut on their produce about 40 percent, and the livelihood of exporters and workers is in danger.
Even despite the state government’s offering power subsidy for shrimp farmers in an attempt to remove the sting of new tariffs, Basani is finding it difficult to live.
“I want to repay the loan and I can’t pay my electricity bill.”
Basani, who said that he was considering the idea of ​​quitting shrimp rearing, had to withdraw his son from college as he could not bear the expenses of tuition and needed more help on the form.
Some other job options
Many jobs dependent on strong shrimp industry in India are in over 300 processing plants, mostly women who spend hours in peeling and removing the shrimp.
This is often the most reliable work available to women with some other options, even though the reports of the rights groups of industry workers, which are paid less, are exploited and forced to work extra hours.
45 -year -old Lalita Rajeshwari says, “My life is up to these wages,” she says she has an alcoholic husband who does not pay her for domestic expenses.
She and other women earn between $ 6 to $ 9 CDN per day.
Looking for a business deal
Indian officials are eager to secure a trade agreement with the US to help reduce tariffs, but there are many important issues.
Trump has voiced India’s “unpleasant” protectionist trade obstacles, but New Delhi says he will not leave its red lines or open its agriculture or dairy areas. The conversation started recently after a few weeks stopped at the end of August.
24 -year -old Radhika Anti told CBC News, “We are all worried” about the impact of the tariff.
He said that his family is conservative and will only allow him to work in the plant, which is close to his house and only hits women for the fishing process.
“If this unit is closed, how can we survive? Who will take care of our children?” The young mother said without stopping her work of peeling the shrimp one after the other.
“We can’t do anything else.”
