The dozen men joked and whistled as they waded into the water of a shrimp pond in India's southeastern coastal state of Andhra Pradesh, pulling a large net behind them as they tried to catch as many shrimp as possible.
The light-hearted atmosphere masked deep concern over the 50 per cent tariffs the United States slapped on Indian exports in August that have heavily damaged India's frozen shrimp industry.
"Everyone is desperate," said Bhaskar Kokkiligadda, one of the daily workers who rotates to different shrimp farms in the area near Pedapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, which sits surrounded by the Godavari River that flows into the nearby Bay of Bengal.
Prior to the tariffs being implemented, the U.S. was India's largest client for shrimp exports, taking slightly more than 40 per cent of the market. That totalled more than $2.5 billion US ($3.5 billion Cdn) in sales in the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to India's Ministry of Commerce
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