Anti-dumping duty on Indian shrimp import unlikely to impact shipment

The recent threefold hike in anti-dumping duty (ADD) on Indian shrimp import by the United States is not likely to have much impact on shipment volume.
 

The USA is the largest market for Indian seafood. The ADD has been raised on shrimp to 2.34 per cent, from 0.84 per cent.

“It is definitely a matter of concern for exporters of seafood but it is not going to impact that heavily. If at all there will be any, it can be compensated by exporting to other countries. The hike in duty is a kind trade embargo by the US to safeguard its domestic industry. There is growing demand from the US and other countries”, said a member of the Seafood Exporters Association of India.
 

“As India accounts for 32 per cent of USA’s shrimp import volume, we do not expect a material impact of the ADD hike on export volume; the growth trajectory is expected to continue in the near term,” said Pavethra Ponniah, vice-president at ratings agency ICRA. “There could, however, be some margin compression across the supply chain, as these hikes are passed down to producers/farmers and processors.”
 

Further, the contribution of Indian shrimp export to the USA is expected to increase, given the sharp hike in ADD on shrimp from Vietnam, to 25.39 per cent from the earlier 4.78 per cent, she added.
 

In 2017, a third of American shrimp import was from India. The growth was 45 per cent in value to $2.17 billion; volume growth was 39 per cent.
 

“The robust volume growth was backed by weak production dynamics in other major shrimp producers Vietnam, China and Thailand. And, reduction in the ADD on Indian shrimp from 2.2 per cent earlier to 0.84 per cent,” ICRA said.