December 1, 2020 — The European Union parliament has officially passed a mini trade deal with the U.S. that will see all tariffs on U.S. lobsters dropped for the next five years.
In a vote with 638 affirmative, 45 against, and 11 abstentions, the parliament confirmed that all U.S. lobster imports to the E.U. will no longer be subject to an 8 percent tariff, retroactive to 1 August. The tariffs will be removed for the next five years, and the E.U. will work to make the removal permanent.
November 27, 2020 — Battered by trade wars and COVID-19, the U.S. Northwest maritime industry is applying lessons learned from both crises, according to leaders who spoke at Pacific Marine Expo’s virtual Maritime Economic Forecast.
With China as its number-one trading partner, the Northwest Seaport Alliance of Seattle and Tacoma saw immense change as a result of U.S.-China trade disputes, followed by a steep falloff in vessel traffic as COVID-19 reverberated in the world economy.
November 13, 2020 — A European Union committee has approved a trade deal that would eliminate import duties on Maine lobsters sold to Europe.
The European Parliament’s international trade committee voted 40-2 to approve the deal — which would assist the lobster industry across the United States — on Tuesday. It awaits a vote by the full European Parliament, as well as the more powerful European Council, before it can be enacted.
The trade deal cements an agreement between the EU and the U.S. from August that would decrease European tariffs on American lobster products by 8 percent to 12 percent. In return, the U.S. would reduce tariffs on prepared meals, ceramics, lighters and glassware.
November 12, 2020 — European Union lawmakers have voted in favor of a trade deal that would see the bloc’s tariffs on U.S. lobsters removed.
The approval came via a 40–2 vote by the E.U. parliament’s trade committee, and follows up on a deal struck in August between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and European Union Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan. That deal would remove tariffs of 8 to 20 percent on imports of lobsters to the E.U., while the U.S. would half duties on imports of certain glassware, ceramics, disposable lighters, and prepared meals.
November 11, 2020 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:
The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) welcomes today’s announcement that lawmakers in the European Parliament’s trade committee have voted in favor of removing tariffs on U.S. lobster and encourage the full Parliament to back the deal when they vote.
The duties on live and frozen U.S. lobster shipped to the EU had been between 8 and 20 percent, but as part of a mini trade deal announced by the Trump Administration in August, the rate will drop to zero. The deal passed in the Parliament committee with 40 votes in favor and 2 against, illustrating the overwhelming interest of the EU in opening the market to delicious, sustainable American lobster.
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the entire seafood supply chain, including U.S. lobster, so this trade triumph could not come at a more pivotal time. It will directly help the men and women on the water, in the processing plants, and the folks who play a role in the distribution and logistics that get lobsters from our waters to dinner tables in the EU.
NFI applauds President Trump and Ambassador Lighthizer for focusing on U.S. seafood exports. We also commend Senator Susan Collins on her steadfast advocacy for the U.S. seafood community.
November 11, 2020 — France’s trade minister hopes that U.S. President-elect Joe Biden acts soon to calm trade tensions fueled by Donald Trump, which have led to escalating trans-Atlantic tariffs hitting billions of dollars worth of wine, planes and other goods.
In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, French Trade Minister Franck Riester accused the U.S. under Trump of threatening global commerce by blocking the appointment of the World Trade Organization’s next director, and urged Biden to break the logjam.
“I hope we are going to be able to rebuild the trans-Atlantic relationship with the Biden administration,” Riester said. He said France is “optimistic” about the Biden presidency, and welcomed Biden’s pledges to re-join the 2015 Paris climate accord and other multilateral organizations that Trump snubbed.
With the U.S. and European economies hammered by the pandemic, Riester said, “We are mobilized for dialogue at all levels … for de-escalation, to ensure that we are no longer in this trade tension.”
November 10, 2020 — The European Union has imposed countermeasures against many exports from the United States that it was awarded by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in lieu of illegal U.S. subsidies granted to aircraft-maker Boeing.
With the countermeasures agreed by E.U. member-states, the European Commission’s regulation increasing tariffs on U.S. exports into the E.U. worth USD 4 billion (EUR 3.4 billion) will be published in the Official Journal of the E.U.
November 9, 2020 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:
Today’s news that the European Union will place tariffs on about $20 million worth of annual United States seafood exports to the EU is disappointing. The seafood communities in the U.S. and EU have long enjoyed a trade relationship that has created tens of thousands of jobs and, most recently, been poised to expand.
It makes no sense that a World Trade Organization dispute about planes that fly 40,000 feet above where fish swim should include seafood. Now, given missteps by both sides, American workers and families will suffer.
The new tariffs come at a time when the seafood industry in both the U.S. and EU are focused on rebuilding and reopening. Such trade barriers distract from this important economic recovery.
November 6, 2020 — Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is increasingly poised to win the presidency with several key battleground states tilting his way in the Electoral College on Friday, 6 November.
In response to Biden taking the lead in the presidential contest, and a high likelihood that Republicans have retained the majority in the U.S. Senate while Democrats retained control of the U.S. House, the seafood industry – and its advocates – are preparing to work with new leadership in Washington D.C.
November 3, 2020 — Tuesday, 3 November is Election Day in the United States, and the results of the national election could have a significant impact on the nation’s seafood industry and the global economy.
Thus far, the tenure of U.S. President Donald Trump – who is up for reelection to a second and final four-year term – has been marked by both positives and negatives for the seafood industry. The Trump administration instigated an ongoing trade war with China by placing tariffs on Chinese goods in July 2018, a move that China reciprocated by placing its own tariffs on U.S. goods – including seafood. Those tariffs had drastic impacts on certain parts of the seafood industry, such as Maine’s lobster industry, which saw an 84 percent drop in exports to China. Total estimates of the impact in 2018 found the trade war cost U.S. seafood exporters USD 350 million (EUR 299 million) that year alone.