Vietnamese businesses expect shrimp sales to pick up after Trump's new tariffs

The US seafood market in 2025 is expected to have some changes after Mr. Trump's new tax rate. Although there is more or less impact, many businesses still have high expectations for essential seafood products, including shrimp.

Vietnamese businesses expect shrimp to sell well after Mr. Trump's new tax rate - Photo: QUANG DINH

Recently, VASEP cited a report from the Supermarket Belt magazine, and said that the US seafood market in 2025 is expected to have some changes.

In particular, Mr. Trump's tax policy promotes local seafood, seafood becomes a luxury item; prioritizes eating at home, especially shrimp and salmon will sell well.

Aquaculture is not affected much.

Since initiating a trade war by imposing heavy tariffs on the three largest trading partners of the US, Canada, China and Mexico, on February 1, many Vietnamese businesses have been interested in exporting seafood.

However, experts see "no worries", even a great opportunity because Vietnamese seafood has been chosen by many American consumers.

On February 7, speaking with Tuoi Tre Online , Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe, former general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Processors and Exporters, said that all opportunities depend on decisions and needs.

"The trade war has had some impact, purchasing power has decreased, hopefully many items have regular demand. Seafood is an essential consumer product, in the trade war, Vietnamese seafood is basically not directly affected, not facing major tax competition.

As for Vietnamese shrimp, they do not pay tax when exporting to the US but pay other taxes, such as anti-dumping tax. Moreover, Vietnamese shrimp has long been chosen by many American consumers," Mr. Hoe said about expectations for exported shrimp.

Similarly, Mr. Nguyen Anh Hoa (a shrimp exporter in Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province) said that in early 2025, he had two orders for frozen shrimp exported to the US and some European countries. In February, the company was negotiating to sell to some new partners.

"The US imposes higher tariffs on imported fish products, creating opportunities for US-raised seafood to increase consumption; boosting sales of premium seafood products such as crab and lobster.

But Vietnamese shrimp has been trusted by many partners, so nothing will change. On the contrary, as Americans' income increases, choosing a variety of seafood sources is natural," said Mr. Hoa.

Trend of choosing easy-to-process seafood products

VASEP cited a survey by Circana (a US market research and technology company) that found that 88% of American meals were eaten at home in October 2024. This trend is expected to continue in the future, driving demand for easy-to-prepare seafood products.

According to businesses, if Mr. Trump's new tax rate is imposed, China, which has up to 1,000 shrimp processing factories, will not be a formidable "rival" to Vietnamese shrimp.

"If the US is the big market, Ecuador, India, and China will all join the shrimp processing race. For example, Ecuador has a value-added processed production line of about 91 tons of raw white-leg shrimp per day.

India is the same, with a strategy of investing in deep processing. But Vietnamese shrimp processing is very diverse; the general processing level of Vietnamese shrimp enterprises is highly appreciated by foreign markets," a seafood export enterprise commented.

Vietnam's outstanding value-added shrimp products include breaded shrimp, fried shrimp, seasoned shrimp, butterfly shrimp, skewered shrimp, tempura shrimp, nobashi shrimp, shrimp dumplings, ginger shrimp dumplings...

Previously, "shrimp king" Le Van Quang - chairman of Minh Phu Seafood Corporation - admitted that Vietnam processes many value-added products that Ecuador and India cannot process, or can process little, so Vietnamese processed shrimp has an advantage.

In 2024, Vietnam's shrimp exports to the US will increase by 11%

According to VASEP, in 2024, Vietnamese shrimp exports to the US will reach 756 million USD, an increase of 11% compared to 2023. Of which, white-leg shrimp accounts for the largest proportion (84.3%), followed by black tiger shrimp (9.3%), and the rest are other types of shrimp.

With 107 markets where Vietnamese shrimp was present last year, the top 5 main markets included China and Hong Kong, the US, Japan, the EU, and South Korea (accounting for 76% of total Vietnamese shrimp exports to markets).

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/doanh-nghiep-viet-ky-vong-tom-ban-chay-sau-muc-thue-moi-cua-ong-trump-20250207112439031.htm