Saving Seafood

Florida Keys lobster industry, reliant on Chinese consumers, braces for potential tariff impact

April 24, 2025 — In Conch Key, Kelly Cordova’s crews are getting traps ready for lobster season.

She’s been on the water her whole life.

“This is our family’s business,” said Cordova. “My mom and dad started when they were 15.”

But even as the Trump administration softens its tone on China tariffs, there’s still uncertainty over the possibility of reciprocal tariffs tacked on to the live lobster they export.

“We don’t know what we’re going to do. It’s really, really scary right now,” said Cordova.

Spiny lobster is a multi-million dollar industry in Florida and the Florida Keys are the biggest producer, harvesting nearly 4 million pounds last season.

Read the full story at Local 10

After latest escalation, tariffs between US and China stand at 125 percent – for now

April 11, 2025 — Both the United States and China have set tariffs of 125 percent on goods from the other nation after just over a week of back-and-forth increases.

China’s Ministry of Finance announced on 11 April it is imposing tariffs on imported goods from the U.S. of 125 percent, up from the 84 percent it announced just days before. That amount is in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s escalation of tariffs, which at first were increased to 54 percent, then bumped up again to 104 percent, before finally being increased to 125 percent as Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for most other countries.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Consumer confidence could impact US seafood buyers more than tariffs

April 11, 2025 — As global seafood suppliers grapple with the potential impacts of threatened tariffs on grocery and restaurant sales, overarching consumer concerns are likely to end up having a greater impact on U.S. shopper spending.

“People focus on whether the tariff is 25 percent or 15 percent, but I think the bigger question is whether this is going to pull back a consumer that has been really strong for a very long time, and the same thing for business confidence,” Circana Executive Vice President Perimeter Practice Leader Chris DuBois told SeafoodSource at the Circana Growth Summit, which ran from 7 to 9 April in Orlando, Florida. “If you see big prices moving in the store, hold on.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Lawmakers, officials debate pros and cons of tariffs on the seafood sector

April 10, 2025 — Lawmakers in Congress are debating the impact of the Trump administration’s ever-fluctuating tariffs on the seafood sector, with a handful of Republicans crossing the aisle in favor of curtailing the president’s authority to implement tariffs without review.

U.S. President Donald Trump has moved swiftly in the first few months of his second administration to improve the nation’s trade deficit by implementing wide-ranging tariffs on foreign goods – though he’s walked many of the tariffs back just as quickly.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Experts see impact of U.S. tariffs in cargo level and container booking forecasts

April 9, 2025 —  Retail, shipping, and logistics industry stakeholders are already seeing the impacts of U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff program and warn of more to come.

Trump first announced a set of sweeping tariffs on 2 April that were going to hit every country with tariffs ranging from 10 percent to 50 percent. A later announcement on 9 April paused those tariffs for most countries, while raising tariffs against China to 125 percent.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump’s latest tariff order hits billions in US seafood imports from top source countries

April 3, 2025 — On 2 April, U.S. President Donald Trump followed through on earlier promises to enact “reciprocal” tariffs, announcing a set of sweeping tariffs that will hit nearly every country in the world – and could cost U.S. seafood importers billions of dollars.

Trump, who declared his tariff action “Liberation Day,” signed an order to enact 10 percent tariffs on all countries by 5 April and additional tariffs on a range of countries that will take effect 9 April. In its official fact sheet about the tariffs, the White House said the tariffs are intended to “rebuild the economy and restore national and economic security.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US seafood sales plummet in February due to later Lent, economic anxiety

March 17, 2025 — Seafood sales plummeted in February at U.S. retail stores, mainly due to the Lent and Easter seasons starting later this year compared to 2024, according to new data from retail market research firms Circana and 210 Analytics.

Frozen seafood sales value realized the greatest shortfall by category in the month, decreasing 8.5 percent year over year to USD 663 million (EUR 610 million). Sales by volume in the category, meanwhile, declined 11.7 percent.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US tariffs leave Chinese seafood exporters scrambling

March 10, 2025 — New tariffs on Chinese goods introduced by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump are causing havoc for Chinese seafood exporters, according to Landy Chow, the marketing manager of seafood import/export firm Siam Canadian.

Chow, who is based in China, told SeafoodSource that the impact of the new tariffs could be devastating for processors of breaded shrimp products exported from China to the U.S. – a seafood category in which China dominated prior to the imposition of 25 percent tariffs during the first Trump administration.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource