October 31, 2019 — Since the start of the trade war between the United States and China over a year ago, certain sectors of the seafood industry have seen sharp drops of trade between the two countries.
The United States and China have taken turns ramping up tariffs on each other’s products, starting at 10 percent tariff rates and escalating to 25 percent duties on most products, including seafood, traded between the two countries.
October 3, 2019 — The United States will impose tariffs valued at USD 7.5 billion (EUR 6.8 billion) against the European Union in what it says is a response to E.U. subsidies to aerospace firm Airbus that broke World Trade Organization rules.
The WTO approved the tariffs on 2 October, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has said they will come into force as early as 18 October. They include 10 percent tariffs on Airbus parts and 25 percent duties on other goods, including some food products. A majority of the products on the list are luxury food products such as cheese, olives, and wine. In the category of seafood, prepared or preserved mussels, clams, cockles, razor claims, and molluscs all will be hit with 25 percent tariffs, according to a list released by the USTR.
September 19, 2019 — As the United States trade war with China continues to take its toll on Massachusetts lobstermen, members of the state’s Congressional delegation, including U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, are urging the Trump administration to find new markets for American lobster exports.
Sens. Warren and Ed Markey and Congressmen Joseph Kennedy III, William Keating, Stephen Lynch and Seth Moulton wrote a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Monday imploring him assist the local lobster industry.
The lawmakers said that China’s 25 percent tariffs on imported American lobsters has had a “material impact” on the state’s lobster industry, already forcing at least two businesses to close and leaving 250 people out of work.
September 18, 2019 — The trade war with China is putting the squeeze on the state’s lobster industry, and the damage is seeping into other sectors of the seafood economy, lawmakers were told Tuesday.
China has imposed 35% tariffs on U.S. lobsters — and many other food products — over the past year amid rising trade hostilities with the United States.
As a result, U.S. lobster exports to China have fallen off a cliff, dropping by 80% since its retaliatory tariffs went into effect.
The pain is being felt in Massachusetts, the nation’s second-largest market, where lobster sales to China plummeted 62% in the past year, according to state export officials.
“Canada is experiencing a boom in lobster sales as Chinese buyers find alternative markets,” Mark Sullivan, executive director of the state Office of International Trade and Investment, told members of Legislature’s Committee on Export Development on Tuesday. “Cargo planes are coming into Halifax, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick to handle this bump in growth.”
September 17, 2019 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA):
United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA), along with Representatives Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA-08), William Keating (D-MA-09), Seth Moulton (D-MA-06) and Joseph P. Kennedy III (D-MA-04), yesterday sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer urging him to explore new markets for American lobster exports to address the impact of China’s 25 percent tariffs on imported American lobsters. The lawmakers’ letter comes ahead of a Joint Committee on Export Development oversight hearing in the Massachusetts State House to assess the impact of Chinese tariffs on the Commonwealth’s lobster industry.
U.S. lobster exports to China are down more than 80 percent since June 2018, which is reflected in the losses reported by local Massachusetts lobster companies. At least two businesses in the state have been forced to cease operations, leaving more than 250 employees out of work, and the U.S. lobster industry more vulnerable to long-term decline and competition from Canada.
“While Massachusetts state legislators are exploring solutions for economic relief at the state level, it is imperative that there be federal resolve to assist the Massachusetts lobstermen whose livelihoods heavily relied on exports to China,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter.
In June 2018, in response to concerns from local elected officials, Senator Warren sent a letter to Ambassador Lighthizer urging him to explore ways to open new markets for American lobster exports. In response to her letter, Ambassador Lighthizer acknowledged her concerns and indicated that trade agreements with countries in Africa and South East Asia and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Foreign Commercial Service could help mitigate the loss of the Chinese market.
In their letter to Ambassador Lighthizer, the lawmakers highlighted the harmful impact of the Trump Administration’s trade war on the Massachusetts lobster industry and reiterated calls for the USTR to explore new export markets for American lobstermen.
“We urge you to work with the Massachusetts lobster industry to provide specific solutions and resources to end the dire losses to the Massachusetts economy,” the lawmakers continued.
The lawmakers requested a response to their letter by September 30, 2019.
September 12, 2019 — China will exempt US fishmeal and shrimp broodstock from tariffs in its first batch of exemptions since the trade war began.
Starting from Sept. 17, for one year, China will waive additional tariffs on imports of the two fisheries products, along with tariffs on 14 other US goods, China’s State Council announced on Tuesday.
The exemptions come as trade negotiations between the two economic powers restart this month.
According to Chinese customs figures, in 2017, China imported 102,731 metric tons of US fishmeal, worth $160m. This made the US China’s third-largest supplier of the ingredient, after Peru and Vietnam.
August 26, 2019 — Soon after China moved on 23 August to raise tariffs on USD 75 billion (EUR 67.4 billion) of U.S. goods, U.S. President Donald Trump retaliated with another increase to tariffs on Chinese goods.
China’s escalation of its tariffs on U.S. goods hit the seafood industry once again, increasing the tariffs on salmon, lobster, pollock, cod, squid, crab to 35 percent, exempting raw material for processing and re-export. The previous tariffs already had a significant impact on some sectors of the seafood industry – lobster exports from Maine to China plunged 84 percent after the tariffs took effect.
August 25, 2019 — China moved on Friday, 23 August to raise tariffs on USD 75 billion (EUR 67.3 billion) in American goods, in response to a move made at the beginning of the month by U.S. President Donald Trump to raise tariffs on Chinese goods.
China’s new tariffs – ranging between 5 and 10 percent – will affect goods ranging from soybeans to crude oil to automobiles, and also include additional tariffs for seafood. They will go into effect between September and December, mirroring the dates set by Trump in his revised timeline for implementing the latest round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. Most U.S. seafood exported to China will will be subject to an additional 10 percent tariff on 1 September, raising Chinese tariffs on U.S. seafood as high as 35 percent.
August 16, 2019 — More U.S. shoppers are noticing price increases for the products they buy regularly, and a majority of them plan to reexamine their shopping habits if U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods remain in place, according to a new survey.
Shopkick, the operator of a shopping rewards app, surveyed more than 30,000 of its users between 28 and 30 June, and found 44 percent of respondents planned to cut down on their shopping as a result of raised prices on consumer goods, the result of tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on practically all Chinese goods, valued at more than USD 550 billion (EUR 495.6 billion) in annual trade.
August 13, 2019 — A move executed Tuesday, 13 August by the Trump administration will reverse previously-announced tariffs on some seafood processed in China.
Included in the original list of items subject to the latest round of tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, 1 August – which originally proposed subjecting an additional USD 300 billion (EUR 270 billion) in imported goods to a 10 percent tariff – were frozen fillets of cod, salmon, and haddock.