US tariffs likely to impact Indian seafood shipments adversely: Exporters
Amaravati (PTI): Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) president G Pawan Kumar on Sunday said the reciprocal tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump will have a severe adverse impact on Indian seafood exports to the US market, whose value stands at USD 2.5 billion in 2023-24.
Out of the total seafood exports to the US, shrimps accounted for the lion’s share of 92 per cent and India is the largest supplier of shrimps to the US, Kumar said.
"This tariff will hurt all stakeholders in the value chain and cause all round distress," Kumar told PTI.
The county will falter in export performance when compared to the South American nation Ecuador, which is levied only a 10 per cent tariff, it is believed. Vietnam with a reciprocal tariff rate of 46 per cent and Indonesia with 32 per cent will concede a massive advantage to the South American country, he said.
According to Vizag-based Kumar, Ecuador is likely to replace India as the largest shrimp supplier to the US market.
"It will be difficult for Indian seafood exporters to absorb this margin of 16 per cent and compete with produce from Ecuador. The prevailing margins in this sector are 4-5 per cent only," he said.
The higher tariffs come into effect from April 9 as 2,000 containers of seafood are currently in transit to the US market, he said.
Kumar underscored that the tariff impact that will have to be borne by exporters in India is estimated to be around Rs 600 crores while an equal number of containers in cold storage are waiting for shipment.
As export orders are on delivery at doorstep basis, the impact of tariff will have to be borne by exporters for goods in transit, said Kumar, adding that this will pose a huge additional burden on shippers.
Further, the requirement of giving a bond and meeting other conditions of the US government will eat into the working capital of the exporters, causing financial distress and cash flow disruptions.
Besides the reciprocal tariffs, Kumar said, there exists a 5.77 per cent countervailing duty and 1.38 per cent anti-dumping duty levied by the US Department of Commerce on all shrimp imports.
"All these have resulted in tightening of margins for exporters in recent times. This levy has come just before the start of the first season of the culture of shrimps," said Kumar.
The uncertainty over the impact of tariffs on margins will lead to a lesser number of orders placed with farmers and consequently, the requirements from hatcheries will also remain subdued, he said.
The SEAI president requested the Centre to intervene urgently with measures to support the sector until the tariffs are reduced to previous levels, or until a bilateral trade agreement is reached.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Fisheries Department joint director Lal Mohammed said the government will organise stakeholders meetings on how to mitigate the impact of tariffs on the sector.
Other strategies the government is contemplating include educating aquaculture players on breeding other species of fish of equal export value and scouring alternative markets such as China, South Korea, Russia, the European Union, Australia and others.
Mohammed noted that raising domestic consumption, increasing shrimp retail outlets, producing value-added products which are ready to cook and eat, improving quality and declaring antibiotic-free shrimps with traceability, among others will also help.
Andhra Pradesh is a major seafood production hub, where more than 5.7 lakh acres are under aquaculture, led by Eluru, West Godavari and Krishna districts.
Vannamei variety of shrimp is bred in more than 2.5 lakh acres in the state.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Post poll TN alliances divided in supporting TVK
Chennai (PTI): In a changed political atmosphere in Tamil Nadu with no single political party having a simple majority to form the government post the Assembly election, opinion is divided among the allies led by the Dravidian majors in extending external support to Vijay-led TVK in government formation.
Both the DMK and AIADMK are at unease as the Congress and also a section in the AIADMK express willingness to extend external support to Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagtam in forming the government.
Post poll, the TVK's political prospects appear to impact alliances led by both the Dravidian majors in a different manner, triggering a speculation of a split.
Leema Rose Martin, who won from Lalgudi on an AIADMK ticket, has stated that talks were underway on extending support to the TVK. Her son-in-law Aadhav Arjuna, who won from Villivakkam is TVK's general secretary.
On May 5, former AIADMK minister O S Manian, emerging from his meeting with party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, stated that AIADMK would not support TVK in forming the government.
The AIADMK, which finished third in the elections with 47 seats has cancelled its meeting of MLAs designate on Wednesday amidst a difference in extending external support to the TVK, which won 108 seats, including two seats by its founder Vijay.
As Vijay is gearing up for his swearing-in on May 7, the police have tightened security at his residence here. The party has lodged its MLA-elect at a resort in Mamallapuram and has simultaneously engaged in talks with the Congress and AIADMK, a source said.
The DMK that won 59 seats on its own, has convened a meeting of its newly elected legislators on May 7 evening and the party is likely to elect the youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin, who won from Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni as its legislature party leader.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal admitted that TVK chief Vijay requested the Congress for support to form the government.
"The INC is clear that the mandate in Tamil Nadu is for a secular government, committed to protecting the Constitution in letter and spirit. The INC is determined not to allow the BJP and its proxies to run the government of Tamil Nadu in any manner. Thiru Vijay has also spoken about drawing inspiration from Perunthalaivar Kamaraj," he said.
Accordingly, the Congress leadership has directed the TNCC to take a final decision on Vijay’s request, keeping in view the sentiments of the state as reflected in the electoral verdict, Venugopal said in a statement.
DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai slammed the Congress decision and said the move to ally with TVK, pledging the support of its five MLAs to the party, was tantamount to "backstabbing the DMK and the people of Tamil Nadu."
"They have betrayed the mandate given by the people. Even before the ink on the returning officer’s signature on the victory certificate has dried, they have chosen to go ahead with this alliance," he told PTI.
The most important question was who took this "foolhardy decision, and how is it going to backfire on the Congress?" he asked.
"I don’t think they had any serious deliberation on this. The larger issue is their opposition to the BJP, which is their ideological enemy. We have supported the Congress throughout. It was our leader M K Stalin, who named Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate when the BJP and RSS were criticising him. And now, within a day, they say they are supporting TVK. This is not the mandate of the people of Tamil Nadu,” Saravanan said.
The Congress' exit from its long-standing alliance with the DMK will be a significant moment in the political scenario of the state, commentator and political analyst Sumanth Raman said.
The Congress may be betting on the TVK as a long-term partner option, but that comes with risks, as the TVK is as yet an unknown quantity, he said.
"For the DMK, if the TVK+Congress becomes the choice of the minorities as it well could, it is an existential threat. It was the minority vote that gave the DMK alliance a 12%-15% cushion in the polls. If that goes, their chances of winning drops dramatically," Raman said on 'X.'
The Congress won 5 seats. However, DMK's other allies, the IUML, VCK, CPI and CPI (M) and DMDK have categorically stated that they would not support TVK.
As of now, the TVK requires the support of 11 MLAs to attain a simple majority of 118 to form the government.
The PMK, which won 4 seats and AMMK one - both allies of AIADMK - have not announced their decision yet.
"AIADMK’s real post-result drama may not be outside the party, but inside it. Whispers from the west and north suggest that a Coimbatore hand and a Villupuram voice may soon ask the question everyone is avoiding: Is it time to save the party from the leadership, before the cadre are forced to do it themselves? In politics, coups don’t begin with slogans. They begin with silence, phone calls and “review meetings,” Aspire Swaminathan, who is credited with founding the AIADMK IT wing in 2014, said on 'X.'
He has resigned from the AIADMK in 2021 and now acts an as independent political analyst.
