Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday urged the Centre to stand by the aqua sector, which is in deep crisis due to heavy duty being levied by the United States.
In a letter to the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, the Chief Minister appealed to the Centre to hold discussions with the US administration to include aqua products in the list of products exempted from additional duty.
The Chief Minister stated that timely intervention by the Centre can safeguard the livelihood of lakhs of people who depend on the aqua sector.
Stating that the fisheries sector is playing a crucial role in the State’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Chandrababu Naidu mentioned that the Centre should stand by the aqua farmers when they are in deep crisis.
The Chief Minister mentioned in the letter that the US Administration has imposed a 27 per cent import duty on marine food exports from India. In the 2023-24 fiscal, marine food products worth $2.55 billion were exported from India to the US, of which shrimp alone accounted for 92 per cent, he said.
Aqua farmers are facing heavy losses due to the 27 per cent import duty imposed by the US on shrimp exports from India, which plays a crucial role in shrimp exports, the Chief Minister pointed out in the letter. The US is imposing a duty of only 10 per cent on exporters like Ecuador, which indirectly harms India, he mentioned.
The exporters from the country are already bearing a 5.77 per cent Countervailing Duty (CVD), the Chief Minister informed the Union Minister and said that when all these duties are put together, India is facing a 20 per cent duty difference compared to Ecuador.
The new US duty imposed afresh came into effect on April 5, due to which all the shipments to the US are to face this additional burden. Products already harvested based on previous orders have been packed and are now in cold storage and ports, the Chief Minister said. Following the new regulations, these too are now subject to increased duties.
In the European Union, Indian exporters face non-tariff barriers including 50 per cent inspection rates and 4-7 per cent import duties, Chandrababu said in the letter to Piyush Goyal and informed him that countries like Vietnam, however, benefit from a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union, enjoying zero-duty access.
As a result of this, these countries are effectively capturing the European market, he felt. Countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Japan procure seafood from India, process it and re-export to the US, the Chief Minister said. “But due to the new high tariffs on final products, even those countries are cancelling their orders from India,” he added.
Since cold storage facilities are full in the state, the farmers are in utter confusion as to where to store their harvested aqua products. On the other hand, due to 27 per cent heavy duty, the exporters stopped procuring the farm products from the farmers, though the crops are ready for harvest, he noted.
The Chief Minister mentioned that these developments are pushing the state’s aqua sector into a deep crisis, affecting aqua farmers, hatcheries, feed mills, processors and exporters. “Hence, I make an appeal to the Centre to hold necessary discussions with the US Administration to include shrimp in the exemption list from duties,” Chandrababu Naidu added.
