US tariffs reshape shrimp market, favoring Ecuador over India

In the US shrimp market, Ecuadorian suppliers are reassessing their offers and capacity to fill the gap left by India, after new tariffs made products from the South American country more competitive while sidelining Indian exports.

Market participants saw the sector at a turning point as importers were seeing higher shrimp offers and could face a limited supply of value-added shrimp, according to industry sources.

Ecuadorian products sold to the US are now subject to a 15% tariff since US President Donald Trump raised the country's baseline tariffs from 10% on Aug. 7. Ecuador is the second-largest provider of shrimp to the US, after India, and the world's biggest exporter.

A few US importers were already passing on the increase of five percentage points to their customers, since other main shrimp-consuming countries were even more affected.

New tariffs on major shrimp-exporting countries to the US took effect on Aug. 7, with India facing a 25% tariff, Ecuador 15%, Indonesia 19%, and Vietnam 20%.

Additionally, India is set to face further 25% tariffs by Aug. 27 if it continues to import oil from Russia. While many sources expect that the 50% duty could be avoided, the persistent uncertainty may cause a scarcity of value-added shrimp in the country. According to several sources, the situation leaves India currently out of the US shrimp market.

"Right now, there is a big cloud over Indian value added and headless, and this makes Ecuadorian packers reassess pricing," a US-based importer said.

"Our team is anticipating that some amount of Indian product orders will be cancelled, and they feel that some customers will book product with Ecuador, so they are bullish on prices of value-added shrimp," the same source added.

Recent offers from Ecuador include price increases, the most intense of which are seen in value-added presentations and medium to high-size products.

Offers of the 16-20 count/lb P&D tail off were seen as high as $5.50/lb DDP US day over day, an increase of 30 cents from offers seen in mid-June. The smaller 31/35 was seen at $4.55/lb, up by around 15 cents

But not all presentations saw the same boost, with few changes seen in headless, shell-on, according to sources.

Platts' US shrimp assessment decreased recently based on offers from India. The assessment considers prices on a CIF basis before any duties. Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed CIF New York PDTO IQF 16-20 count/lb shrimp at $9,039/mt, or $4.07/lb, on Aug. 8, down from $9,590/mt on Aug. 5.

Tariffs to affect demand

While Ecuador is comparatively better off, such measures are feared to reduce overall shrimp consumption, leading households to prefer other protein options. At the same time, Ecuadorians' limited capacity to process value-added products could make some presentations scarce.

"Some presentations, such as cooked shrimp, will become so expensive that buyers will simply stop consuming them," an exporter said.

To a third source, the next six months may redefine the shrimp market. "This is a turning point for the global shrimp business," the source said. "We are already seeing Ecuador's value-added capacity being tested."

Local shrimp prices in India have been decreasing in recent days, with packers' demand muted due to tariff uncertainty. There are fears that the movement may affect the upcoming harvest later in the year, with farmers slowing down seeding because of tanking local prices.

In June, Ecuador increased its export volumes to the US, due to tariff threats against India.

Ecuador's total shrimp exports increased by 17.51% year over year in June, reaching 126,074 mt, or 278 million lb. Shipments to the US surged by 43.72% during the same period, totaling 21,388 mt, according to data from the National Aquaculture Chamber, or CNA. The US share of Ecuadorian exports rose from 13.87% in June 2024 to 16.96% in June 2025.

Other destinations

The tariff differential opens an opportunity at a moment when other key importers are showing stagnant demand. Ecuadorians have been facing more competition in China from Indian sellers, who have been trying to diversify. Bidding prices have been decreasing throughout the week. The Chinese market has been speculative, with buyers waiting to see how much they can benefit from the increase in supply resulting from US tariffs.

Sellers have been diverting volumes to Europe, where there is positive demand for cooking-quality products, which usually gets higher prices. But as the summertime lull intensifies, demand from the region is expected to dwindle, only to return in September.

In the first half of 2025, Ecuador shipped 719,154 mt of shrimp, a 16.69% increase from the same period in 2024, CNA figures show. The volume was mostly influenced by increased shipments to Europe, which rose 37.72% to 158,547 mt.

Exports to China rose by 7.71% to 358,277 mt, while sales to the US increased by 13.06% to 134,401 mt.

The Platts Ecuador Shrimp Marker remained steady on Aug. 8, compared with Aug. 7, at $5,100/mt FCA Guayaquil, also remaining unchanged week over week.