February 3, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump announced on his social media platform Truth Social that he is pausing planned 25 percent tariffs on Mexico for one month following a conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Trump announced a set of sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China on 1 February, following through on a proposal he made in November 2024.
February 3, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Commerce Howard Lutnick told U.S. senators at his confirmation hearing that he would not dismantle NOAA and would work to protect American fishers.
Under questioning from lawmakers, Lutnick said that he looked forward to working with the president in implementing tariffs to gain respect from foreign nations.
January 31, 2025 — Leaders from the U.S. and Canada’s lobster fishing communities came together in Bar Harbor Wednesday to tackle what they said are pressing issues facing the industry.
At the top of mind at this year’s 21st annual meeting was the potential impact of President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Canadian products.
“These tariffs, if they actually happen, will badly impact Maine harvesters and the Maine lobster sector — just as it will impact Canadians,” said Geoff Irvine, the executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada.
Solving this issue could mean lobbying U.S. political figures, Irvine said.
January 31, 2025 — Maine Republican legislators wrote a letter to President Donald Trump thanking him for his recent action on offshore wind and asking him to take it a step further.
The letter sent Thursday was authored by Rep. Reagan Paul (R-Winterport). Offshore wind was a key issue for Paul in her reelection campaign last year after the state announced its hopes to build a port in her district to support its larger goals to develop 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine by 2040.
“Common sense, economics and environmental concerns are against the offshore wind projects proposed by Democrats for the Gulf of Maine,” Paul said in a news release Thursday, noting her appreciation for Trump’s swift action on the matter.
She went on to say that she and her Republican legislative colleagues “are asking his administration to finish the job before irrevocable harm is inflicted on marine wildlife, coastal communities and our quality of life.”
January 30, 2025 — The White House has rescinded a two-page memo issued by the Trump administration that called for a broad pause in federal funding – a move which would have halted potentially USD 3 trillion (EUR 2.8 trillion) in funding.
A memo released by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) called for a “temporary pause of agency grant, loan, and other financial assistance programs” which would have taken effect at 5 p.m. EST 28 January. The memo said it was meant to impact programs that may have been implicated by Trump’s earlier executive orders, “including but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”
January 28, 2025 — The Trump administration has announced a broad pause in federal funding, a move which throws millions in funding for programs like SNAP and disaster relief into question.
A memo released by the budget office of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has placed potentially billions in federal funding in limbo – which could include funding for programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and disaster relief programs which provide millions to the seafood industry.
January 27, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump suspended new federal offshore wind leasing on his first day back in the Oval Office on Jan. 20, pending an environmental and economic review.
On the same day, Danish energy company Orsted, the world’s biggest offshore wind firm, posted another impairment charge on delays to a U.S. offshore project.
Those are just the latest blows for the offshore wind industry that former President Joe Biden and several states considered key to meeting federal and state clean energy targets.
In California, where offshore wind is in early stages of development, Adam Stern, Executive Director of Offshore Wind California, an industry trade group, said most of the work was happening at the state level.
January 27, 2025 — President Donald Trump used his first day in office to slam the brakes on the renewable energy industry, issuing an executive order to temporarily halt federal leasing, permitting and approval of both onshore and offshore wind energy projects.
But a Virginia Beach wind farm already under construction will be spared the immediate effects of the order, said environmental experts and Dominion Energy officials. Still, the experts say other Dominion projects could be delayed.
“It will have an effect on any future leases,” said Eileen Woll, offshore energy program director for the Sierra Club’s Virginia chapter.
Under the Monday executive order, the Trump administration will pause all offshore wind leases in federal waters, in addition to halting permitting and approvals for any wind project, both offshore or onshore. The order notes that, “Nothing in this withdrawal affects rights under existing leases in the withdrawn areas.” That includes the 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which began construction off the coast of Virginia Beach last year.
January 27, 2025 — Amid efforts by President Donald Trump to halt future offshore wind efforts, U.S. Rep. Jared Golden is hoping to codify protections for lobster fishing in the Gulf of Maine.
“Maine’s fishermen deserve to know that waters critical to our historic, high-value industry are protected — not by promises, but by federal law,” Golden said. “President Trump’s recent Executive Order provides some measure of reprieve, but we need a more permanent solution.”
Even though the fishing area is currently excluded from approved offshore wind development areas, Golden wants to “take protections for Maine’s fisheries out of the discretion of the chief executive and codify it into law,” according to the news release from his office. Just days into his second term, Trump has taken steps to undo the offshore wind advances of the Biden administration.
January 27, 2025 — Three people working at a New Jersey seafood wholesaler were detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on 23 January.
It is unclear whether ICE’s visit to the business was part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed changes to immigration enforcement or part of the previous administration’s immigration policy, though a Trump administration official confirmed similar arrests of at least 538 people on 23 January across the country.