The threat of tariffs by U.S. president Donald Trump could have a silver lining for Atlantic Canada’s seafood companies.
The 10-day Export Café Europe trade mission to Italy, France and the United Kingdom in February generated an “incredibly positive” response for participating Nova Scotia seafood companies, said Kris Vascotto, executive director of the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance.
“Far more positive than on other trade missions. Part of that is related to the political situation going on. Customers in the E.U. who were getting their fish and seafood products in other places are now looking at Canada to choose as a trade partner. Some are actively pursing opportunities here in Atlantic Canada. Hopefully we’ll see those blossom over the coming weeks and months. It certainly was a very positive experience and one we’re expecting to get a positive response from.”
The mission was led by the Lobster Council of Canada (LCC).
“We have 14 Atlantic Canadian companies attending, focused on all species of farmed and wild caught fish and seafood from Canada,” said Geoff Irvine, executive director of the LCC.
The mission involved two days in each country; one day with visits to retailers, wholesalers and logistics providers and one day with facilitated meetings between Canadian and European importers.
“The program is based on the ‘Seafood from Canada’ branding program (www.seafoodfromcanada.ca). This mission takes place every year in February, most recently focused on Asian markets, while this year we decided to go to Europe. Given the importance of diversifying our markets, this type of mission is vital to our companies,” said Irvine.
Irvine said the LCC has been focused on the tariff response since the announcement before Christmas. “Our main focus has been liaising with provincial and federal government departments, working with American seafood associations like the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and the Maine Lobstermen’s Association to support their advocacy efforts with the U.S. government and media relations in Canada and the U.S. to ensure that our Canadian position is understood.”
Irvine said American customers and partners in the lobster sector are equally worried about the potential impacts of the proposed tariffs.
“American buyers of Canadian live and frozen lobster gain significant revenue and profit from our products and want to retain tariff-free access. Canadian lobster processors buy about 40 per cent of all lobster caught in New England to process in the summer and fall and we sell 75 per cent of our frozen lobster to the U.S. and the U.S. is our second largest buyer of live lobster,” said Irvine.
“In the last 10 years, China has become our top market for live lobster exports, closely followed by the U.S. (about 40 per cent each, give or take). The balance is shared by countries in Asia, the E.U. and the Middle East. Ten years ago, there was very little export to China, so this is a major change. A significant amount of the lobster exported to the U.S. is re-exported from American airports, which provides an opportunity for Canadian companies if the tariff is imposed,” said Irvine.
“The U.S. buys 75 per cent of our processed lobster with the major products being raw tails, cooked lobster meat and whole, in-shell products,” said Irvine.
If a 25 per cent tariff is imposed, it is “unlikely that existing customers will accept a 25 per cent increase in their prices, so the question will be where the market for the various products settles out. It will be expected that all parts of the value chain will share in the lower prices but it is too early to know what that could look like,” said Irvine.
Osborne Burke, general manager of the Victoria Fisheries Co-operative, said the U.S. “are our customers and friends. The people are not the problem. They understand tariffs will not benefit anyone and will impact U.S. consumers and businesses far greater there than in Canada.”
Burke said Canadian premiers, the Prime Minister and staff are “doing what they can but they are used to dealing with diplomacy, with someone on the other side of the table that you can shake hands, make a deal but with the way it is with this individual being so irrational and lunatic as he is there’s no negotiating. You don’t’ know what he’s going to do or say from day to day.”
