Canada has removed US fish and seafood products from its planned retaliatory tariffs, reversing course less than 48 hours after announcing that American seafood would face a 25% duty from 8 September.
The move came after Canadian seafood businesses warned that tariffs could hurt their own operations, particularly companies that import US lobster and other seafood for processing before selling it back into the US market. Canada had initially included a broad range of seafood, including lobster, salmon, tuna and crab, in a package of tariffs covering about CAN$27.6 billion (US$20 billion) of US imports.
The Canadian Department of Finance said the decision followed industry feedback. “Based on feedback, we have made select adjustments to protect against broader economic harms, including removing seafood and fish products from our list of counter tariffs,” the department said.
The department added: “We are continually working with Canadian industries to assess the effectiveness of these measures, with a primary focus on industries that have been targeted by US tariffs.”
The reversal highlights the unusually integrated nature of the North American seafood trade. Some Canadian processors rely on US seafood as raw material, meaning a tariff could have raised costs for Canadian companies while also potentially making seafood more expensive for consumers.
Kris Vascotto, executive director of the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance, warned that the tariffs could have “forced firms to make some very hard decisions about whether they keep their doors open for the rest of the [fishing] season or not.”
Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada, also expressed concern that retaliation could backfire, saying: “The worry is that fish and seafood will now be targeted by American tariffs.”
Canada says its broader retaliatory measures will still take effect on 8 September, with duties of 15%, 25% and 50% on hundreds of US products.
