Saving Seafood

America’s Fishing Industry Is Getting Caught Up in the Trade War

July 20, 2022 — The American fishing industry is caught in the middle of the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China—hooked by tariffs imposed on both sides of the Pacific.

As a result, U.S. exports of seafood have fallen to their lowest levels in a decade. That’s in large part due to the tariffs that have made the industry “less competitive and less affordable,” according to a filing by the National Fisheries Institute, an industry group, to the International Trade Commission (USITC) ahead of a hearing scheduled to take place on Thursday.

When the Trump administration imposed those tariffs in 2018, lawmakers from states with large fishing industries sounded the alarm but were ignored. “It has clearly rattled my state,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R–Alaska) said in a 2018 Senate hearing exchange with then-U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. “​​Our seafood industry is the number one private industry in terms of the jobs and the economic opportunity it brings.”

Tariffs on seafood have hit Alaska in particular, Alaska’s fishing industry generates over $5 billion dollars in economic activity and creates nearly 70,000 jobs in the state, making it a vital lifeline for the state. Over 40 percent of U.S.-caught Alaskan salmon and one-third of all seafood from Alaska is exported to China each year. Much of it is processed in China and then re-imported to the United States for sale in grocery stores.

Read the full article at Reason

 

Analysts predict little shift in US-China trade policy in early days of Biden administration

December 17, 2020 — With the U.S. Electoral College certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump, the country has continued the transition of power, which will culminate in the 20 January inauguration.

As the Biden administration continues to announce its cabinet picks, analysts are expecting that the country’s current stance on international trade likely won’t shift nearly as much.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

France will not ‘sacrifice’ its fishermen in any Brexit deal, says minister

December 8, 2020 — Negotiations between Britain and the European Union over a post-Brexit trade deal are complex and France will oppose any pact that “sacrifices” its fishermen, French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said on Tuesday.

“On fisheries there is no reason to yield to Britain’s pressure. We can make some efforts but sacrificing fisheries and fishermen, no,” Beaune told RMC radio, reiterating that France would veto any agreement it considered a “bad” deal.

Since Britain left the European Union in January, each side has urged the other to make concessions to unlock a trade deal before Britain’s transition period for leaving the bloc ends on Dec. 31.

Read the full story at Reuters

USDA extends sign-up period for Seafood Trade Relief Program

December 8, 2020 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced a one-month extension to the signup period for the Seafood Trade Relief Program.

The program is designed to support the U.S. seafood industry by offsetting some of the impacts of retaliatory tariffs implemented by foreign governments. Thanks to the extension, impacted fishermen can now sign up for the program through 15 January, 2021.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Northwest US maritime industry looks to a better 2021

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.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Maine’s lobstermen and women hope Biden can boost fortunes

November 27, 2020 — Donald Trump positioned himself as a friend of New England’s lobster industry, campaigning hard in Maine, and even had lobsterman Jason Joyce speak at the Republican national convention.

But the president’s prolonged trade war with China resulted in a rocky few years for the industry.

Following Biden’s win in the presidential election, which saw him take three out of four electoral votes in Maine, which, along with Nebraska, has a split system, members of the industry now say they are looking forward to some much-needed stability.

Stephanie Nadeau, owner of the Lobster Company, a dealer in Arundel, Maine, said the industry needs assurance that it will be able to sell lobsters to other countries without punitive tariffs and is hopeful that such comfort will come in January following the inauguration of the Democratic president-elect.

She said of life under the Trump administration: “You can’t plan. You can’t live in chaos. The trade war, was it going to last a week, was it going to last a month, was it going to last four years? How do you operate around that?”

Read the full story from The Guardian at MSN

As Biden emerges as likely election winner, seafood industry prepares for potential changes

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.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

On Election Day in the US, much hangs in the balance for the seafood industry

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.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

USDA Secretary Perdue: USDA to protect Alaska’s seafood from China’s retaliation

October 27, 2020 — For years now, President Donald J. Trump has been standing up to China and other nations, sending the clear message that the United States will no longer tolerate unfair trade practices. While trade damage from unfair retaliation has impacted a host of U.S. commodities, including American seafood, President Trump is taking action on trade policy to open new markets so that American agriculture can compete globally.

High tariffs disrupt normal market patterns, affect prices and export volumes, and raise costs by forcing commodities to find new markets. Additionally, there is evidence that American goods shipped overseas are being slowed from reaching market by unusually strict or cumbersome entry procedures, which can affect the quality and marketability of perishable products. This can boost marketing costs and discount our prices, and adversely affect all those in the Alaska seafood industry.

We always suspected that American agriculture and the world-class seafood industry would likely be among the hardest hit sectors, because our producers are extremely productive and are excellent competitors in the world marketplace. Indeed, of the total tariffs imposed on the United States, a disproportionate amount was targeted directly at our fishermen. In keeping with President Trump’s promise, this administration will not stand by while our hard-working men and women of the seafood industry are treated unfairly by countries acting in bad faith.

Read the full opinion piece at the Juneau Empire

Seafood companies sue federal government, claim Trump administration plays favorites with tariff relief money

October 26, 2020 — The Trump administration was taken to court on 21 October by three seafood-related companies that claim the federal government’s trade policies has harmed their businesses.

Texas-based Houston Seafood Company, LLC along with Gulf Marine Product Co., Inc. and Ningbo Trading Company, LLC, both based in Louisiana, filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for Southern Texas.

Read the full story at Seafood Source