Canada’s East Coast seafood industry is relieved as the federal government has excluded U.S. fish and seafood products from its counter-tariffed items list. The government made this announcement late Wednesday night, citing adjustments based on feedback.
Following the U.S. imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on a range of goods, Canada retaliated with counter-tariffs on $27.6 billion worth of U.S. goods. Initially, many seafood products were included on the list at a 25 per cent tax rate.
Canada removed counter-tariffs on U.S. fish and seafood products to safeguard its interests. The federal government revised the tariff list after considering the views of Canadians, as stated by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
The seafood industry was concerned about the potential severe impact of these countermeasures, especially as the industry had not been previously involved in the trade war until the recent announcement.
Gilles Thériault, former president of the New Brunswick Crab Processors Association, expressed relief, stating, “The whole Atlantic fisheries industry is relieved that this tariff has been taken away from the list.”
Nat Richard, executive director at Lobster Processors Association, highlighted the industry’s heavy cross-border integration, with American-caught lobster often processed in Canadian plants before being exported back to the U.S.
Richard emphasized that a 25 per cent tariff would have made processing in Canada economically unviable, potentially leading to early closures of numerous processing plants and significant job losses.
