Seafood exporters say the latest progress in the Bharat–US trade pact, including a likely reduction of American import duties to around 18% — is expected to significantly lift India’s seafood shipments and restore demand in the key US market.
Seafoods exporters believe that once the trade deal between US and Bharat is materialized it will elevate the country’s seafoods exports to record heights. When the US import duty comes down to 18%, the existing sales will not only continue but also new sales orders will come up. This was stated by G. Pavankumar, President of the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI). He added that the value of the seafoods export during the next fiscal year will be US $ 350 cr (Rs 32,000 cr).
During the last fiscal year, the value of the seafoods export from Bharat was US $ 270 cr (Rs 25,000 cr). But, when President Donald Trump declared, in August, the increase in the import duty, obstacles arose in securing new export contracts and renewing the existing ones.
S.E.A.I. Secretary General and CEO Dr. K.N. Raghavan said that as the US import duty came down the environment is favourable for the improvement in the market.
Major seafood exports include frozen shrimps, frozen fish including tuna, squid and katla, as well as processed seafood products.
Decrease in Exports in The Current Year
During the period from April to November 2025, value of seafoods export to US decreased by 6.3% and volume by 15%. During this period, the export of seafoods to US was 2,01,501 tons, the value being US $ 172 cr. The previous year, during the same period, it was 2,36,061 tons and US $ 183.54 cr respectively.
SEAI congratulated the union government for making the US trade pact a reality after a lengthy series of discussions. The new development is a major relief for the seafood export sector, which has been under severe strain since the US increased the import duty to 50%. SEAI expressed the hope that the export will return to the normal situation soon.
