Seafood containers worth nearly ₹100 cr from Tamil Nadu stranded at sea amid US tariff hike: Report
Thoothukudi: Seafood exporters in the coastal town of Thoothukudi are grappling with a severe crisis, as the newly imposed 50% tariff by the United States has triggered widespread cancellations of orders in transit, leaving over 1,000 tonnes of seafood consignments worth nearly Rs 100 crore stranded at sea.
Thoothukudi exports frozen seafood like vannamei (Whiteleg shrimp), squid and octopus in large quantities to the US market; shrimp alone accounts for 85% of the export, as reported by The New Indian Express on Saturday.
“After the US President Donald Trump’s 50% tariff on Indian goods kicked in on August 27, the buyers are urging the exporters to either bear the difference in tariff hike or take back the consignments,” TNIE quoted Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) - TN Region president Selwin Prabhu as saying.
Though most exporters had already started reducing the volume of their exports due to the growing uncertainty over the tariffs, over 1,000 tonnes of seafood are still en route. Prabhu said that it takes nearly 45 days to ship these goods to US ports, such as New York or Los Angeles.
“Buyers want exporters to bear the 50% tariff cost to accept the consignments or they are threatening to return them. We entered into agreements with buyers when the tariff on Indian goods was 10%. The steep tariff of 50% has upended everything,” Prabhu added.
Shrimp export, which constitutes a major portion of exports to the US, is subject to an additional 8.5% duty on top of the 50% tariff. An exporter quoted by TNIE shared that he had shipped five to six containers, carrying approximately 100 tonnes of seafood, to the US market, with the goods expected to reach the New York port in the next 10 days. The buyer, however, had refused to accept the consignment due to the increased tariff and had asked the exporter to consult a liner for returning the goods.
As negotiations with buyers continue, exporters are deeply concerned about the potential long-term consequences for the industry. If the tariff situation persists, industry stakeholders fear massive job losses across the sector.
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Four of family killed as car jumps divider on highway in Gujarat's Panchmahal
Godhra (Gujarat) (PTI): Four members of a family were killed, and one sustained grievous injuries after their speeding car jumped a divider on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway corridor in Gujarat's Panchmahal district on Monday, police said.
The car driver lost control of the wheels near Kalol. As a result, the four-wheeler jumped the divider and veered off to the other side of the highway, an official from Kalol police station said.
Soon after the accident, some locals rushed to the scene and also alerted the police. Efforts were made to pull out the people trapped in the car.
Four persons died on the spot, while one suffered injuries, the official said.
The deceased were members of a family from Vadodara and were returning from Rajasthan when the tragedy struck, the official said.
They have been identified as Sajid Iqbal Khinji (55), Ilyas Iqbal Khinji (50), Ishaq Iqbal Khinji (48) and Rehan Azgar Khinji (35).
