GANAPAVARAM, India/GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador: India's shrimp exporters are facing mounting uncertainty as new U.S. tariffs threaten to disrupt a multibillion-dollar industry that relies heavily on American demand.

President Donald Trump's tariff plan, which raises duties on Indian shrimp imports to 26 percent from July, has already shaken the country's coastal farming communities and export firms. Though the rate is temporarily paused at 10 percent, many say the damage is already being felt.

"We are suffering huge losses," said S.V.L. Pathi Raju, a shrimp farmer in Andhra Pradesh, India's leading shrimp-producing state. "We don't know who can resolve our price issues."

The U.S. is India's largest buyer of seafood, purchasing $2.5 billion worth of goods last year—92 percent of which was shrimp. More than 300,000 Indian farmers contribute to this supply, with exports reaching a record $7.3 billion in 2023.

But the new tariffs have chilled demand. Exporters have slashed offer prices by 10 percent, and farmers like Uppalapati Nagaraju say they were blindsided. "Had I known, I would not have started my cultivation," said Nagaraju, who began farming just 15 days before the tariff news.

Adding to the pressure, exporters fear losing ground to Ecuador, which benefits from a lower 10 percent tariff and proximity to the U.S. "It's game over" if the 26 percent rate kicks in, said one Indian exporter, who asked not to be named.

Still, Ecuador's industry leaders are cautious. "India will be obliged to look for other markets where Ecuador is selling, like China and the European Union, so we'll have more pressure in other markets," said Jose Antonio Camposano, head of Ecuador's National Chamber of Aquaculture.

In Andhra Pradesh, Reuters visited a shrimp processing facility where frozen shipments are prepared for export—a journey that takes 40 days to U.S. ports in New York, Houston, and Miami.

Now, thousands of containers are stuck in limbo. "Ten percent is high—we exporters operate on a 3 percent to 4 percent margin," said G. Pawan Kumar, president of the Seafood Exporters Association of India.

At a Walmart in Texas, Indian shrimp remained on shelves. "We have built long-lasting and deep relations with suppliers over the years," said Walmart's chief merchandising officer Latriece Watkins. "We expect that to continue, going forward."