Saving Seafood

USTR extends Section 301 tariff exclusions on certain seafood for another three months

June 3, 2025 — The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has granted certain Section 301 tariff exclusions on some seafood items, giving the products another three months to avoid a higher 25 percent tariff rate.

The Section 301 tariffs stem from the first term of U.S. President Donald Trump, who first hit Chinese products with a 10 percent tariff in 2018. That move started Trump’s first trade war with China, which resulted in 25 percent tariffs being placed on a wide array of goods from China related to the Section 301 Investigation of China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Panel seeks to align fisheries policy with Trump order

June 2, 2025 — A House hearing this week will scrutinize federal regulations of commercial and recreational fishing.

The hearing Wednesday before the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will feature testimony from industry stakeholders and fishing community leaders from Alaska to New England.

Among those scheduled to appear are Rick Bellavance, chair of the coordinating committee for NOAA’s eight regional fishery management councils and owner of a Rhode Island charter fishing company.

Read the full article at E&E News

US trade court invalidates Trump’s tariffs; appeals court stays order

May 30, 2025 — The U.S. Court of International Trade has ruled that U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempts to unilaterally raise tariffs are “invalid and cannot be implemented,” throwing the president’s ongoing trade negotiations into uncertainty.

However, the U.S. Department of Justice quickly appealed the ruling, and on 29 May, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit temporarily stayed the trade court’s ruling while it considers motions from both sides.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Shipping sector faces continued uncertainty as Trump appeals US court challenge to tariffs

May 30, 2025 — A 28 May decision by the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT), which challenged the legal basis of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, as well as the Trump administration’s appeal of that decision, has major implications for U.S. importers and shipping sector stakeholders, Clark Hill Senior Attorney Kelsey Christensen told SeafoodSource. 

The immediate consideration for shippers, Christensen said, is whether they need to be rushing imports into the U.S. at the moment.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump delays 50 percent tariffs on European Union

May 29, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump has delayed implementation of a 50 percent tariff on goods from the European Union to 9 July, after first announcing they would go into effect 1 June.

Following a 25 May call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Trump announced he would be pushing back the date. When questioned by a reporter 28 May, the president said the initial threat was needed to bring Europe to the negotiating table.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

EPA Approves First Fish Farm in Federal Waters

May 29, 2025 — Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a permit that will allow the first industrial-scale fish farm to begin operating in federal waters.

The pilot project, called Velella Epsilon, has been stalled for about six years; its approval follows an executive order signed by President Trump in April ordering the deregulation of aquaculture and the opening of some protected waters to commercial fishing.

It’s particularly significant because Velella Epsilon, which is expected to produce 20,000 red drum annually about 40 miles off the coast of Sarasota, Florida, has been at the center of a larger debate over farming the oceans for years.

On one side, environmental groups and coastal fishermen see any large-scale ocean farming of finfish as too risky, given past ecological disasters and the potential impacts on wild fisheries. On the other side, experts and advocates say we should find ways to farm more fish for climate benefits, to combat overfishing of wild species, and to reduce dependence on seafood imports.

Supporters of Velella Epsilon say it represents a new kind of open-ocean system that is designed specifically to eliminate the negative impacts of the offshore aquaculture operations of the past. This group has the support of powerful seafood corporations, grocers, restaurant chains, and their lobbyists.

Read the full article at Civil Eats

Save LBI Opposes New Jersey’s Suit Against Trump Offshore Wind Order

May 29, 2025 — A local grassroots organization is asking the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts to reject a lawsuit challenging President Donald J. Trump’s wind-energy directive brought against his administration earlier this month by multiple states, including New Jersey.

Saying Trump’s directive does not violate any environmental statute and falls within the president’s supervisory authority laid out in the U.S. Constitution, Save LBI filed an amicus curiae brief (literally, friend of the court), the nonprofit said in a May 22 statement.

“While demonstrating that the state’s plaintiffs have no legal leg to stand on, Save LBI’s amicus brief also illuminates how recent sharp increases in marine mammal mortalities are attributable to offshore wind vessel survey activities,” said Bob Stern, president and co-founder of Save LBI. “… (It) shows that the serious harm foundation pile driving and long-term operation of wind turbines have on marine mammals far outweighs the minuscule benefits of these projects.”

In its filing, the bipartisan group of Long Beach Island residents and business owners also note no final agency action has taken to date that would justify court intervention, and the appropriate agencies retain lawful discretion to pause or reassess permitting decisions at any stage pending additional review under the law.

Read the full article at The Sand Paper

EU open to extending lobster deal in package on Trump tariffs, FT reports

May 28, 2025 — The European Union is open to extending a deal which allows the duty-free import of U.S. lobsters as part of a broader package aimed at removing U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing two officials.

The EU’s current regulation eliminating customs duties for fresh and frozen lobsters from the U.S. expires on July 31. The lobster deal between the U.S. and EU was struck in 2020 during Trump’s first term.

Read the full article at Reuters

Developer to resume NY offshore wind project after Trump administration lifts pause

May 21, 2025 — The Trump administration is allowing work on a major offshore wind project for New York to resume.

The developer, the Norwegian energy company Equinor, said Monday it was told by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that a stop-work order has been lifted for the Empire Wind project, allowing construction to resume.

Work has been paused since Interior Secretary Doug Burgum last month directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to halt construction and review the permits. Burgum said at the time that it appeared former President Joe Biden’s administration had “rushed through” the approvals. Equinor spent seven years obtaining permits and has spent more than $2.5 billion so far on a project that is one-third complete.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

Equinor says Trump has allowed Empire Wind to resume construction

May 20, 2025 — Equinor said Monday that the Interior Department has lifted a stop work order on Empire Wind 1, a dramatic reversal by the Trump administration that breathed life into the 54-turbine project that had been on the brink of cancellation.

The reason for the turnaround wasn’t immediately clear. In a statement, Equinor CEO Anders Opedal thanked President Donald Trump for “finding a solution that saves thousands of American jobs and provides for continued investments in energy infrastructure in the U.S.”

Empire Wind 1 is central to New York’s climate and energy plans. The $5 billion project would connect directly into New York City’s power grid, providing enough electricity to supply 500,000 homes. It has been the focus of an intense international lobbying effort in recent weeks. Opedal and Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg met with White House officials to discuss the project last month.

Read the full article at E&E News