Saving Seafood

This year’s fish fry might cost more. Blame tariffs.

March 16, 2026 — The smell of fried cod wafts into the parking lot of the German Family Society, just outside of Akron, Ohio. Just 15 minutes after doors opened, there are easily 200 butts in seats, and the line for fried cod, German potatoes, and coleslaw stretches to the door.

Fish fries happen this time of year because Christians who observe Lent eat fish on Fridays instead of meat. But for some of this crowd, religion has nothing to do with it.

“We love the fact that fish is available for that month or five weeks,” said David Matrone.

He and his wife, Kristy Rivera, aren’t religious. But they heard about this fish fry from a friend and decided to try it out.

”We just love the demeanor here. It’s just warm and very welcoming. So we came back. This is our second year,” she said.

The price they paid for dinner helps fund uniforms and travel for youth dance groups. So there are children wearing aprons, serving up food and cleaning tables.

Read the full article at Marketplace

Tariff lawsuits begin moving forward as US federal court issues mandate

March 3, 2026 — The U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a mandate that moves multiple lawsuits on U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs forward on the path toward refunds.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in late February that Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to justify his tariff program was illegal. The ruling largely agreed with earlier rulings by the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and determined that the IEEPA did not give Trump the authority to impose the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs he implemented in April 2025.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US House votes to end Trump tariffs on Canada

February 12, 2026 — The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to block President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, setting the bill up for a vote in the Senate.

Trump has continuously threatened Canada with tariffs since taking office in January 2025, and recently threatened a 100 percent tariff on the country’s goods over its trade deal with China. The country currently faces a 35 percent “fentanyl” tariff on all goods from the country, with the caveat that any goods entered under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – which is virtually all seafood goods – are not required to pay the tariff.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump threatens 100 percent tariffs on Canada over trade deal with China

January 26, 2026 — U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Canada if it follows through in finalizing a trade deal with China.

“The last thing the World needs is to have China take over Canada. It’s NOT going to happen, or even come close to happening! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump said in a 24 January social media post.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump’s latest tariff threats would hit more seafood suppliers

January 20, 2026 — U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened a new set of tariffs on eight European countries, potentially impacting the seafood industry and a prior trade deal with the European Union.

In a post on his social media site Truth Social, Trump threatened 10 percent tariffs on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands, and Finland starting 1 February over those countries’ decision to station personnel in Greenland. He added those tariffs will be increased to 25 percent on 1 June 2026 unless he receives a deal for the “Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Op-ed: A momentous US Supreme Court decision

January 7, 2026 — When I was an economics major in the late 1960s, I was taught that tariffs, as well as non-tariff barriers, should be avoided as a burden on trade and a tax on the populace. However, because the world has not accepted that teaching and tariffs have become a major defensive tool for advancing the Trump administration’s policy objectives, the conventional wisdom should be reconsidered.

Today, there are over 180 nation-states trying to be competitive on the world markets for goods and services, 35 percent of which are represented by the United States. Consequently, access to our markets is extremely important. U.S. tariffs provide critical, indispensable leverage against unfair foreign trade practices, including tariffs and nontariff barriers to our exports, and unfair penetration of our markets to the detriment of domestic production and jobs. Lessons can be drawn from trade experiences with two of America’s closest allies: Japan and Canada.

Japan, over the last 40 months, has devalued its currency against the U.S. dollar by 50%, from 105 to 155 yen to the dollar. This means that Japan has effectively established the equivalent of a 50% tariff on all international imports.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

South Korea announces trade deal with US reducing tariffs to 15 percent

October 29, 2025 — The U.S. and South Korea have reached a trade deal that will reduce tariffs on the Asian nation from 25 percent to 15 percent, both countries announced on 29 October.

U.S. President Donald Trump initially threatened the 25 percent tariff in July, with a start date of 1 August. Since that time, all goods from the country – including seafood – have been subject to the duty.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US appeals court rules some Trump tariffs are illegal, but impacts will continue

September 2, 2025 — The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled a large swath of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal, but the tariffs will stay in place as the case awaits appeal.

The court ruled that the sweeping tariffs on almost every country in the world Trump announced in April were an overreach of his authority to impose tariffs under federal economic emergency laws. Trump had issued the “reciprocal” tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), but the appeals court ruling said that the IEEPA does not have a mechanism to impose tariffs.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Uncertainty surrounding US tariffs spurs rising import cargo levels

March 11, 2025 — Container ports in the United States are seeing elevated cargo levels, according to the Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates. The report comes amid rising uncertainty over tariffs in the U.S., where President Donald Trump’s rapidly evolving trade policy has shaken up the shipping industry and sent a chill through markets. 

NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said that uncertainty around tariffs, particularly those on goods from China, is leading retailers to rush their imports into the country.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource