Saving Seafood

US retail, restaurant groups express grave concerns with new tariff rates

August 6, 2025 — U.S. retail and restaurant trade groups are urging President Donald Trump to lower tariffs and pursue other measures to achieve his trade goals after he recently issued an executive order implementing new duty rates on 69 countries and the European Union.

“We encourage the [Trump] administration to negotiate binding trade agreements that truly open markets by lowering tariffs, not raising them,” National Retail Federation Executive Vice President of Government Relations David French said. “These higher tariffs will hurt Americans, including consumers, retailers and their employees, and manufacturers because the direct result of tariffs will be higher prices, decreased hiring, fewer capital expenditures, and slower innovation.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

RHODE ISLAND: Proposed NOAA cuts raise concerns for Rhode Island’s fishing industry

August 4, 2025 — President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for the upcoming year includes significant cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), spurring pushback from Rhode Island lawmakers.

The administration is proposing a $1.6 billion year-over-year reduction to NOAA’s budget. The plan specifically calls for the complete elimination of funding for climate research in fiscal year 2026, which begins Oct. 1.

Some of these proposed cuts have already raised alarms among those who depend on NOAA’s services — particularly commercial fishermen in the Ocean State.

Point Judith fisherman Frederick Mattera has more than 40 years of experience. Mattera said his industry relies heavily on two specific aspects of NOAA that are at risk in next year’s budget: climate research and weather data.

Read the full article at WPRI

Trump administration cancels plans to develop new offshore wind projects

August 1, 2025 — The Trump administration is canceling plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development, the latest step to suppress the industry in the United States.

More than 3.5 million acres had been designated wind energy areas, the offshore locations deemed most suitable for wind energy development. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is now rescinding all designated wind energy areas in federal waters, announcing on Wednesday an end to setting aside large areas for “speculative wind development.”

Offshore wind lease sales were anticipated off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Maine, New York, California and Oregon, as well as in the central Atlantic. The Biden administration last year had announced a five-year schedule to lease federal offshore tracts for wind energy production.

Trump began reversing the country’s energy policies after taking office in January. A series of executive orders took aim at increasing oil, gas and coal production.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

US Senate Commerce Committee advances Trump’s nominee to lead NOAA

August 1, 2025 — The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee voted to advance the nomination of Neil Jacobs – a former NOAA acting administrator and U.S. President Donald Trump’s current pick to lead the agency once more.

Jacobs was first named acting administrator of NOAA in 2018 during Trump’s first administration, but his nomination was never approved by the full Senate. When Trump was succeeded by President Joe Biden, Jacobs was replaced by Richard Spinrad.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Latest Trump order sets tariffs hitting top seafood trading partners and billions worth of seafood

August 1, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order on 31 July codifying a new swath of tariffs on dozens of countries.

The order comes as an 1 August deadline, set after Trump threatened increased tariffs before pausing their implementation days later, passes. The new order further modifies tariff rates and implements a range of different tariffs on 69 countries and the European Union as a whole.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump announces delay on Mexico tariffs, multiple tariff rates as 1 August deadline looms

July 31, 2025 — The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has announced effective tariff rates on multiple countries and a 90-day pause on any new tariffs on Mexico as an 1 August deadline on higher rates rapidly approaches.

Trump announced early on 31 July on his social media platform Truth Social that, following a call with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, the U.S.’s tariffs on the country will remain at 25 percent for the next 90 days. Trump said Mexico also agreed to terminate any non-tariff trade barriers, “of which there were many.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump’s tariffs back in court

July 31, 2025 — An appeals court may soon get in the way of President Trump’s trade agenda as his Aug. 1 deadline approaches to impose so-called ‘reciprocal’ duties on a host of countries.

One day ahead of that deadline, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will convene across the street from the White House to decide whether the bulk of  Trump’s tariffs are legal.

Hanging in the balance at Thursday’s oral argument is whether Trump can use an emergency law to justify his sweeping reciprocal tariffs on countries globally and a series of specific levies on Canada, China and Mexico.

The Constitution vests Congress with the power to impose tariffs, so Trump can’t act unless lawmakers delegated him authority.

Trump points to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law that authorizes the president to impose necessary economic sanctions during an emergency to combat an “unusual and extraordinary threat.” Trump is the first president to attempt to leverage IEEPA to impose tariffs

Read the full article at The Hill

NEW YORK: NYS withdraws plan for offshore wind transmission line

July 30, 2025 — New York State’s Public Service Commission is withdrawing plans for a transmission line supporting offshore wind.

The line would have connected New York City with numerous offshore wind farms. But states are now facing federal pushback on developing wind power.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration attempted to stop development of New York’s Empire Wind Farm. Christopher Casey, New York utility regulatory director with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the federal roadblocks make it harder to bolster this industry.

“There are permits and regulatory decisions that need to be made at both the state and the federal level,” said Casey. “If the federal government is putting up roadblocks wherever it can, then it is very difficult to move these projects – and ultimately, nothing can go forward.”

Read the full article at FingerLakes1.com

Trump says India will be hit with 25 percent tariff as global tariff pause deadline approaches

July 30, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump said India will be hit with a 25 percent tariff rate as of 1 August, the same date a range of other countries will also be hit by new tariffs if the deadline is not extended.

Trump first threatened to increase tariffs across almost every country in the world in early April before pausing them on most countries a few days later. At the time, India – the third-largest source of seafood imported to the U.S. by value – was being threatened with a 27 percent tariff.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

EU agrees to trade deal with US, setting tariff rate for goods at 15 percent

July 28, 2025 — The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump announced it has reached a trade deal with the European Union, setting a base tariff rate of 15 percent on E.U. goods.

Trump announced the deal just days before a 1 August deadline that would have seen the E.U.’s effective tariff rate jump to 30 percent. It also came as media reported E.U. diplomats were considering using wide-ranging “anti-coercion” measures, often dubbed the “nuclear option,” as a means of discouraging the tariffs.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource