August 18, 2025 — Shipping and logistics experts are predicting a sector-wide slowdown after U.S. President Donald Trump recently announced he was extending a pause on proposed tariffs on Chinese imports.
The first pause on U.S.-China tariffs, which was announced in May, resulted in a rush of cargo into the U.S. from the Far East. Rates for shipping containers went up, container availability went down, and U.S. ports saw record high volumes.
August 15, 2025 — The U.S. started out 2025 as the top buyer of Norwegian seafood but fell to third place behind Poland and China in July, according to the latest figures from the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC).
NSC Communications Director Martin Skaug told SeafoodSource that while the new tariffs levied by the U.S. on all Norwegian goods might have contributed a bit to July’s shakeup, the NSC is primarily attributing it to the massive volume growth of farmed salmon – both from Norway and other markets this year. Poland’s ascension up the rankings can, therefore, be attributed to the fact it is a country that heavily processes and redistributes salmon to other markets.
August 13, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order further delaying a proposed tariff increase for another 90 days.
The latest order, “Further Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates to Reflect Ongoing Discussions with the People’s Republic of China,” cites ongoing trade talks between U.S. and Chinese officials as a reason for the delay. With the new order, the existing suspension on tariffs will now last until 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on 10 November.
August 8, 2025 — New tariffs ranging from 15% to 20% take effect this week on a wide range of imported goods, including fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, and fish.
While shoppers may feel the pinch at the checkout, some in the U.S. seafood industry see an opportunity.
Nearly 85% of the seafood consumed in the United States is imported, according to Galveston fisherman, Scott Hickman. Major seafood suppliers including Vietnam and Indonesia both now facing new tariffs of up to 20%. The changes, part of the latest round of President Donald Trump’s trade war, are prompting renewed focus on sourcing food domestically.
For longtime Galveston fisherman Hickman, this is a welcome shift.
“America’s become addicted to cheap seafood that’s raised in ways they wouldn’t approve,” Hickman said. “Most Americans, I think, would rather spend a little bit more for the shrimp po’ boy or the crab fingers if they know it’s American-produced.”
Hickam says tariffs level the playing field for fishermen. He’s also pointing to new legislation in Congress looking to expand seafood production in the United States.
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.”
August 5, 2025 — U.S. tariffs on Southeast Asian nations like Vietnam have helped to cushion the impact of trade disruptions on Chinese processors and exporters, according to Landy Chow, the general manager of seafood exporter Siam Canadian’s Chinese office.
The U.S. recently instituted 20 percent tariffs on Vietnamese goods, down from the 42 percent it was initially threatened with. Chinese seafood, meanwhile, faces 30 percent tariffs, as well as 25 percent Section 301 tariffs, resulting in a 55 percent overall tariff rate.
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.
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.”
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
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.