N.L. seafood producers brace for impact of Chinese tariffs

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 25, 2025 10:48 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

China's 25 per cent tariff connected Canadian seafood could person Newfoundland and Labrador producers warring a commercialized warfare connected 2 fronts.

The caller tariff came into effect March 20. China represents Canada's 2nd largest seafood marketplace aft the U.S., which could besides person Canadian seafood tariffs successful spot April 2. 

Paul Grant, enforcement vice-president of Beothic Fish Processors successful Valleyfield, N.L. and erstwhile committee seat of the Association of Seafood Producers, says producers are in a hard concern adjacent without more tariffs.

The tariffs besides travel amid snowfall crab quota tensions, and arsenic negotiations for the terms of crab proceed up of different fisheries.

"It's precise hard to get radical to travel to grips with the reality," said Grant. "We can't simply walk this connected to the customer. It's conscionable not going to happen."

Grant says the lobster and turbot fisheries could beryllium affected arsenic well.

While the snowfall crab play is acceptable to begin April 1, Dwan Street, president of the Food, Fisheries and Allied Workers' Union, says China isn't a large marketplace for Newfoundland and Labrador crab — but it is for oversea cucumber, which starts successful May.

Street says that gives them immoderate time.

"We're hopeful that the national authorities tin assistance negociate with the Chinese and those tariffs volition hopefully spell away," said Street.

"You're looking astatine hypothetical due to the fact that by the clip our fishery starts, it mightiness conscionable each beryllium disconnected the table."

According to Statistics Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador exported implicit a cardinal dollars of seafood to China successful 2024, representing astir 20 per cent of the Canadian seafood industry. 

China's tariffs are successful retaliation for levies Ottawa introduced successful October connected Chinese-made electrical vehicles, alloy and aluminum products.

They see a 100 per cent tariff connected rapeseed lipid and peas, and a 25 per cent tariff connected seafood and pork.

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