US seafood imports fall in both volume and value in first 8 months; Vietnam's exports to US down 15%, share narrows to 9.82%

According to a November 3, 2026 report by Vietnam Fisheries Magazine, statistics from the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) show that in the first 8 months of 2026, the US imported a total of 2.12 million tonnes of seafood worth USD 18.06 billion, down 5.3% and 2.7% respectively from the same period in 2025.

The import decline occurred across several of the US's major supplying markets, including India, Indonesia, China and Argentina. Vietnam was likewise affected: in the first 8 months, Vietnam's seafood exports to the US fell 15% in volume and 8.4% in value year on year.

In terms of structure, in the first 8 months of 2026, Vietnamese seafood accounted for 9.82% of total US import volume and 6.15% of total import value, with both shares edging down slightly from the same period in 2025.

The report said US seafood imports may improve in the fourth quarter of 2026, as importers, retail systems and restaurant chains increase stockpiling to meet consumption demand for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. However, actual export results will also depend on the trajectory of market demand and companies' ability to deliver orders during the year-end peak season.

Separately, according to the August 2026 import and export statistics of China's General Administration of Customs, China imported 1,023.463 tonnes of warm-water shrimp (penaeid shrimp, including whiteleg shrimp and black tiger shrimp, etc., under customs commodity classification code HS 0306.17, which is a commodity classification rather than a single biological species) from Vietnam, with an import value of USD 8,055,485.0 and an average import price of USD 7,870.81 per tonne. Another set of records in the same statistics shows that China's imports of warm-water shrimp from Vietnam in the same period amounted to USD 6,418,131.0, with an average price of USD 7,719.52 per tonne; the two sets of figures are inconsistent.