Saving Seafood

Tariffs changing shopping habits of US consumers

August 16, 2019 — More U.S. shoppers are noticing price increases for the products they buy regularly, and a majority of them plan to reexamine their shopping habits if U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods remain in place, according to a new survey.

Shopkick, the operator of a shopping rewards app, surveyed more than 30,000 of its users between 28 and 30 June, and found 44 percent of respondents planned to cut down on their shopping as a result of raised prices on consumer goods, the result of tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on practically all Chinese goods, valued at more than USD 550 billion (EUR 495.6 billion) in annual trade.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Frozen salmon, cod fillets escape latest Trump tariffs

August 13, 2019 — A move executed Tuesday, 13 August by the Trump administration will reverse previously-announced tariffs on some seafood processed in China.

Included in the original list of items subject to the latest round of tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, 1 August – which originally proposed subjecting an additional USD 300 billion (EUR 270 billion) in imported goods to a 10 percent tariff – were frozen fillets of cod, salmon, and haddock.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Mexico becomes top US trade partner one year into China conflict

August 8, 2019 — It’s been one year, so how’s that trade war with China working out for the nation’s seafood industry?

As with farmers, there’s not much winning and ongoing tweeted skirmishes have global fish markets skittish.

The quick take is the 25 percent retaliatory tariff imposed by China on U.S. imports last July caused a 36 percent drop in U.S. seafood sales, valued at $340 million, according to an in-depth analysis of Chinese customs data by Undercurrent News.

“Chinese imports of US seafood fell from $1.3 billion in the 12 months prior to tariffs (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018), to $969 million in the 12 months after (July 1, 2018-June 30, 2019), underlining the heavy impact of weaker demand for U.S. seafood subject to tariffs, while poor catch of U.S. wild-caught seafood was also to blame,” the News wrote.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

For Northwest fishermen, latest catch is trade-war trouble

August 7, 2019 — As President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on China last week in a trade war with no end in sight, American salmon fisherman Sven Stroosma set his sights on the blue waters of the Gulf of Alaska, piloting his boat Voyager in search of a big salmon catch.

Alaskan salmon are running, and Pacific Northwest fishermen like Mr. Stroosma have only a few intense weeks in July and August to catch enough to sustain their family income for the coming year. Rough seas, equipment failures, and dry streams that limit spawning all threaten to hurt their haul.

This season, the U.S.-China trade conflict has increased pressure on salmon fishermen by depressing the price offered for their hard-earned catch. China, the biggest importer of Alaska seafood, included the industry in a 25% tariff increase imposed last year.

Read the full story at The Christian Science Monitor

Trump’s trade war with China takes a big bite out of Alaska and US seafood sales

August 7, 2019 — It’s been one year, so how’s that trade war with China working out for the nation’s seafood industry?

As with farmers, there’s not much winning, and ongoing tweeted skirmishes have global fish markets skittish.

The quick take is the 25 percent retaliatory tariff imposed by China on US imports last July caused a 36 percent drop in US seafood sales, valued at $340 million, according to an in-depth analysis of Chinese customs data by Undercurrent News.

“Chinese imports of US seafood fell from $1.3 billion in the 12 months prior to tariffs (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018), to $969m in the twelve months after (July 1, 2018-June 30, 2019), underlining the heavy impact of weaker demand for US seafood subject to tariffs, while poor catch of US wild-caught seafood was also to blame,” the News wrote.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

China’s currency slide, mounting debt presents challenges to seafood industry

August 6, 2019 — This week, for the first time in over a decade, China’s currency fell below the psychologically important exchange rate of CNY 7.00 (USD 1.00, EUR 0.89) per U.S. dollar.

The news-making milestone will add to the pessimism in many Chinese boardrooms this summer over the long-term prospects for the country’s economy as the dispute between China and its largest customer – the United States – continues.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Trump announces 10 percent tariff on remaining Chinese imports

August 2, 2019 — U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday, 1 August, that once again a trade deal had fallen through with China, and as a result, the United States would seek to impose a 10 percent tariff on the remaining USD 300 billion (EUR 270 billion) in goods the U.S. imports from the world’s most populous country.

“We thought we had a deal with China three months ago, but sadly, China decided to re-negotiate the deal prior to signing,” Trump stated.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Trade war killed effort to create seafood futures market in China, expert says

August 2, 2019 — One lesser-known impact of the trade war between the United States and China is the abrupt end to reform of China’s seafood and soy trading system, which had been underway as part of a package that would also address the country’s underperforming commodities exchanges.

In the past decade, there has been discussion in China in favor of dismantling the system of state supports for the grain and oilseed sector so that prices come into line with the international market. There was also talk of a fish futures contract in Dalian and even much reported rumors of a Chinese takeover of the Chicago Stock Exchange as part of greater Chinese participation in international commodity price-setting institutions. However, all of those moves appear to be parked for now as China uses soy purchases as a weapon in its trade dispute with the U.S.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ROBERT KEHOE: Commercial fishermen need relief from Chinese tariffs

July 24, 2019 — American businesses are being hit hard by retaliatory tariffs imposed by China on U.S. goods in response to the Trump administration’s trade policies. Commercial fisheries are no exception.

The Purse Seine Vessel Owners’ Association represents the interests of the “small boat” commercial fishing fleet. It represents some 290 vessel owners, about half of whom are based in Washington state with about two dozen from Seattle.

While the association is based in Seattle, which is the home of the North Pacific commercial fishing fleet and several large seafood processing companies, a large majority of members make their living harvesting wild-caught and sustainably managed salmon in Alaska.

Ultimately, what members want to see is a return to fair and open trade practices with our global trade partners, especially China, so that hard working, commercial fishing family-owned businesses can continue to earn a modest living supplying consumers with wild Alaska salmon. China is the largest of Alaska’s seafood export markets.

Read the full story at Seattle Times

China playing public relations game focused on cooperative conservation

July 22, 2019 — The vigor with which the government has prosecuted its crackdown in domestic waters has certainly been unprecedented this year in China – it seems that every village government in the country has had a publicity event that involves pouring bags of fish seedlings into local waters.

China appears to also be playing a clever public relations game by embracing neighbors in joint fisheries rehabilitation projects that are also helping to keep a lid on simmering disputes over territorial waters and illegal fishing.

For instance, last week, a delegation of Filipino fishery officials led by the deputy head of the agriculture and fishery ministry in Manila travelled to Beijing for the third annual “China Philippines United Fishery Committee.” The meeting was a recap on all that’s been achieved in three years of activity, according to a Chinese summary of the meeting featured prominently in local media reporting.

“China continues to donate grouper fish seedlings to the Philippines…we have been training Filipino fishermen in aquaculture and algae technology and we are together fighting illegal fishing,” noted a statement from the Chinese ministry. China and the Philippines are working together to resolve any territorial disputes, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, Chinese state TV didn’t devote much air time to the update from the arbitral tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which found in favor of Manila’s case against Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea in July 2016. Convened under the compulsory dispute settlement provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the tribunal’s five arbitrators ruled overwhelmingly in the Philippines’ favor. Three years on, China is in compliance with just two out of the 11 parts making up the ruling.

Read the full story at Seafood Source