Saving Seafood

Canada announces trade deal with China cutting tariffs on lobster, crab

January 16, 2026 — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the country has reached an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping that will cut Chinese tariffs on key seafood items like lobster and crab.

Canada has faced an additional 25 percent tariff in China on a range of seafood products including halibut, crabs, lobster, clams, and shrimp since 20 March 2025. The tariffs were made in response to a 100 percent Canadian tariff on Chinese electric vehicles and a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum products from China.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Canada, US planning formal trade talks, placing potential tariffs back on horizon

December 22, 2025 — Canada and the U.S. are poised to enter formal trade talks in 2026 as the U.S., Mexico, and Canada Agreement (USMCA) reaches its first review period.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump established the USMCA in 2018, replacing the longstanding North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). When it was established, the USMCA included a clause to potentially renegotiate the deal in 2026, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has now told Canadian provincial leaders that Minister of Internal Trade Dominic LeBlanc will meet with officials in the U.S. in mid-January to launch those discussions, the Associated Press reported.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Newfoundland fishing union condemns creation of MPAs

October 29, 2025 — The Newfoundland and Labrador Fish, Food, and Allied Workers Union (FFAW) Inshore Council has unanimously condemned Canada’s use of marine protected areas (MPAs), refuges, national marine conservation areas, and other area restrictions that it says unfairly limit the fishing industry.

“We demand that Prime Minister Mark Carney, [Fisheries] Minister Joanne Thompson, and [Canadian Identity and Culture] Minister Steven Guilbeault immediately dismantle these baseless closures and abandon all plans for new ones. These policies are a deliberate betrayal of our fish harvesters, wrecking livelihoods while masquerading as conservation,” FFAW Vice President Jason Sullivan said in a release. “The federal government’s obsession with these closures is a disgrace, prioritizing hollow environmental optics over the survival of our communities.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Carney administration launches Buy Canada program aimed at supporting sectors hard hit by US trade policy

September 9, 2025 — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced a set of strategic measures aimed at responding to the impacts of U.S. trade policy, and the nation’s seafood industry appears likely to benefit. 

“We cannot control what other nations do,” Carney said in a press release about the Buy Canada policy package he announced on 5 September. “We can control what we give ourselves – what we build for ourselves.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump threatens Canada with 35 percent tariffs, but exceptions could benefit seafood

July 11, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened Canada – the U.S.’s largest seafood trading partner – with 35 percent tariffs, but an official later confirmed the higher rate may not apply to most seafood.

In a letter sent to Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump once again claimed the “Nation’s Fentanyl crisis” is motivation for the tariffs and blamed Canada’s “failure to stop the drugs from pouring into our Country” for the new threats.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource