The effects of the Trump tax are becoming more apparent: 50% of export orders are canceled, and Andhra estimates shrimp export losses at Rs 25,000 crore.

Government authorities believe that Andhra Pradesh lost over Rs 25,000 crore in shrimp exports as a result of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, with almost 50% of contracts being canceled.

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has called for the Center’s help to ease the state’s suffering due to the export problem, as over 2,000 containers are currently subject to a tariff burden of nearly Rs 600 crore.

Following Trump’s announcement of a 25 percent increase in tariffs on top of the 25 percent previously announced, along with a 3.96 percent anti-dumping charge and a 5.76 percent countervailing duty, US tariffs reached 59.72 percent.

In separate letters to Fisheries Minister Rajeev Ranjan Singh, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Naidu proposed lowering the Goods and Services Tax and offering Andhra Pradesh’s aqua farmers Center’s financial packages to compensate them for their losses. He also urged them to think about searching for markets outside of the US. Eighty percent of the nation’s shrimp exports and thirty-four percent of its marine exports, which total over Rs 21,246 crore a year, come from Andhra Pradesh. It is estimated that the state’s shrimp exports and related industries support over 30 lakh people.

Naidu noted that the tariffs were causing hardships for aqua farmers and their families, and that his government had already announced a number of relief measures, such as lowering the price of aqua feed by Rs 9 per kg. He also said that other measures, such as lowering the price of transformers, were being considered.

He requested that the Center help banks support exporters and aqua enterprises by providing interest subsidies, a temporary exemption from the 5 percent GST on frozen shrimp, and a 240-day moratorium on loan and interest repayments. Furthermore, in order to increase exports, he advised the Center to concentrate on expanding its export markets outside of the US by establishing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the European Union, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Russia.

The chief minister also mentioned that exporters were prepared to provide seafood to the EU and asked for clarification on tariff and tax reduction programs as well as short-term financial support for exporters.