Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], April 7 (ANI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has appealed to the Centre to stand by the aqua sector or fish farming products, which are facing loss due to heavy duty being levied by the United States, a release said on Monday.

In a letter to the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, CM Naidu asked the Centre to come to the rescue of aqua farmers by making efforts to exempt the aqua products from this additional duty.

Informing the Union Minister 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 a 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 2023-24, marine food products worth 2.55 billion dollars were exported from India to the US of which shrimp alone accounted for 92 per cent, he wrote.

He pointed out that the US is imposing a duty of only 10 per cent on exporters like Ecuador, which indirectly harms India.

CM Naidu mentioned further that the exporters from the country are already bearing a 5.77 per cent Countervailing Duty (CVD), adding 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 four to seven per cent import duties, Chandrababu said in the letter to Piyush Goyal

He also mentioned 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 it to the US, the Chief Minister said. 'But due to the new high tariffs on final products, even those countries are canceling their orders from India,' he added. (ANI)