So, how would you describe what everyone in the Canadian seafood industry is going through right now?
On tenterhooks. The suspense is killing me. On the edge of my seat. Hanging on the edge. A ticking time bomb. Waiting with bated breath.
Any and all of these sayings can be applied to the extreme anxiety and angst President Donald Trump’s circular logic of tariff threats is causing our multi-billion-dollar seafood industry.
As of the writing of this editorial, the jury is still out of if and when Trump will be imposing his promised 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports into the U.S. — including, one can surmise, seafood.
While Canadian politicians and industry stakeholders do their best to lobby their counterparts south of the border, the threat remains and it is real.
The looming tariffs have cast a spectre over the entire industry. Capital investment in the fishing industry infrastructure has been put on hold and 2025 fish prices are entirely up in the air. It is as if the entire industry is being held against its will by the latest Trump whim from the White House.
While many in the U.S. seafood industry have appeared ambivalent or even fearful to speak up about what a 25 per cent increase in the cost of Canadian lobster, snow crab, groundfish etc… would mean to their bottom lines and workers, other political opportunists appear to be now coming out of the woodwork.
A republican Congressman is now urging Trump to crack down on seafood imports from other countries, other than Canada and Mexico.
Congressman Clay Higgins recently delivered an official letter to President Trump, requesting tariffs and increased trade enforcement for seafood imports from China, Ecuador, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
“Domestic shrimpers, fishermen and crawfish producers in Louisiana and across the country face significant challenges competing against foreign seafood industries that are heavily subsidized and engage in illegal dumping into the United States,” Higgins wrote.
“These unrighteous trade practices artificially drive down prices, disrupt fair market conditions, and threaten the livelihoods of hardworking American seafood producers. Without strong and consistent intervention, our seafood industry will remain vulnerable to these illegal trade tactics that erode the competitive market.”
He went on to say that “I respectfully urge your administration to use all available enforcement tools, such as imposing antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD), implementing stricter testing protocols, and taking decisive actions, including levying tariffs of up to 100 per cent or destroying shipments that fail to meet U.S. health standards, to ensure a level playing field for American producers. Implementing these measures will protect the competitiveness and integrity of our domestic market and help the economy and culture of our coastal communities.”
Everyone continues to ask, what is President Trump’s end game here?
So, while you ponder that perplexing question, the 47th U.S. president has gone ahead and announced what he calls the “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” on trade — where he is basically going after and imposing reciprocal tariffs on those that were not in his economic crosshairs before.
The presidential memorandum ordered the development of a comprehensive plan for “restoring fairness in U.S. trade relationships and countering non-reciprocal trading arrangements.”
“The Fair and Reciprocal Plan will seek to correct longstanding imbalances in international trade and ensure fairness across the board. Gone are the days of America being taken advantage of. This plan will put the American worker first, improve our competitiveness in every area of industry, reduce our trade deficit, and bolster our economic and national security.”
Where is this all going? Nobody knows — and Trump has only been in office for less than two months — 46 more to go.
