Bumper trade deal! SEAI is all praise for central government

Wednesday 04 February, 2026 | 9:48 PM READ MALAYALAM VERSION

KOCHI: With the implementation of the free trade agreement between the US and India, the country's seafood exports will get back to their halcyon days. With the import duty reduced to 18 per cent, there will be an opportunity to continue existing sales and also get new sales orders, said G. Pawan Kumar, president of the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI). The value of seafood exports to the US is expected to be $ 3.5 billion (Rs 32,000 crore) in the next financial year. India exported seafood worth $ 2.7 billion (Rs 25,000 crore) in the last financial year. After Donald Trump announced a tariff hike in August, securing new purchase agreements and renewing existing agreements turned into a difficult task. With US announcing a tariff reduction, the market is adopting a favourable side, said Dr K.N. Raghavan, secretary general and CEO of SEAI.

During the April-November period, seafood exports to the US fell by 6.3 per cent in value and 15 per cent in volume. During this period, the US purchased 2,01,501 tonnes of seafood worth $1.72 billion. In the April-November period of the previous year, 2,36,061 tonnes of seafood worth $1.8354 billion reached the US market.

The Seafood Exporters Association congratulated the central government for making the US trade deal a reality after long-term negotiations. This decision will bring relief to the crisis-affected seafood export sector. The association also expressed optimism that exports will return to normal soon.

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