[SIZE=7]China threatens tariffs on US lobsters as business booms[/SIZE] https://www.apnews.com/dist/assets/icons/slideshow-story-view.png https://storage.googleapis.com/afs-prod/media/media:99e0ef31c41a495fa3e4797f9a462bf2/800.jpeg
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A set of retaliatory tariffs released by China on Friday includes a plan to tax American lobster exports, potentially jeopardizing one of the biggest markets for the premium seafood.
Chinese officials announced the planned lobster tariff along with hundreds of other tariffs amid the country’s escalating trade fight with the United States. China said it wants to place new duties on items such as farm products, autos and seafood starting on July 6.
The announcement could have major ramifications for the U.S. seafood industry and for the economy of the state of Maine, which is home to most of the country’s lobster fishery. China’s interest in U.S. lobster has grown exponentially in recent years, and selling to China has become a major focus of the lobster industry.
“Maine’s lobster industry is an irreplaceable piece of our state’s economy that supports thousands of jobs and entire coastal communities,” the state’s congressional delegation said in a statement. “Just two weeks ago, the Maine delegation heard directly from our state’s lobster industry about the economic hardship a trade war with China would cause them.”
The delegation — Republican Sen. Susan Collins, Independent Sen. Angus King; Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree and Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin — said they plan to outline their concerns to federal trade officials.
“Hopefully cooler heads can prevail and we can get a solution,” said Matt Jacobson, executive director of the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative. “It’s a year round customer in China. This isn’t good news at all.”
A Chinese government website on Friday posted a list of seafood products that will be subject to the tariffs, and it included live, fresh and frozen lobster. The website stated that the items would be taxed at 25 percent.
The announcement came in response to President Donald Trump’s own increase in tariffs on Chinese imports in America. The Republican president announced a 25 percent tariff on up to $50 billion worth of Chinese goods on Friday.
The news raised alarms around the Maine lobster industry, as China’s an emerging market for U.S. lobster, which has gained popularity with the growing middle class. Maine lobster was worth more than $430 million at the docks last year, and the industry is a critical piece of the state’s economy, history and heritage.
The U.S. isn’t the only country in the lobster trade. Canada also harvests the same species of lobster and is a major trading partner with China.
“Anything that affects the supply chain is obviously not a great thing,” said Kristan Porter, president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. “The lobstermen obviously are concerned with trade and where they go.”
The value of China’s American lobster imports grew from $108.3 million in 2016 to $142.4 million last year. The country barely imported any American lobster a decade ago.
China and the U.S. are major seafood trading partners beyond just lobster, and the new tariffs would apply to dozens of products that China imports from the U.S., including salmon, tuna and crab. The U.S. imported more than $2.7 billion in Chinese seafood last year, and the U.S. exported more than $1.3 billion to China.
[SIZE=5][COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]One million kilos of lobsters to be locked out as per China Global TV Network[/SIZE]
there must be a reason why they ship it half around the world and why they are crying now. if they will have to offload their rejected catch to the local market then that will bring down the prices for everyone; some of whom work on very thin margins. meanwhile, there’s someone waiting to fill the gap that the US fisherman will leave.
You’ll be here all day… MAGA proponents (Drumpf lovers) don’t know shit about a’backdown. And they all over the place. In a minute, you’ll be talking about banana peels or Melania’s hairdresser.
First of all how many Chinese can even afford to eat lobster? wangapi? mikono juu!
Si ni masonko kama xi jinping? And so what if you even double the price, watanunua tu. Even American beef in China I’ve seen the videos na ni masonko tu wanakula. Wealthy midro crass apan tambua noodles.
But I can tell you there’ll be a lot of hungry mouths in Huang hi district if a couple of Americans refuse to buy the 20 or so Chinamade towels they buy every month to wipe their fat asses.
That factory that someone posted here that assembles grills for the American market, watapeleka wapi hizo grills? Who else on earth grills as much beef and lobsters as those fat Americans?
That defjam owner idiot who used to brag he only wears a white tshirt once then dumps it in the trash akikataa kununua tena hio factory ya China watadump wapi hizo whitees?
Wewe ngoja. China ikiambia all debtors wake, US ibaki ikikaukanga mtakuwa isolated. This trade war will be worse than cold war…that is if Cohen doesnt sing like a canary.
I wills start taking this ‘tariff war’ shit serious when it will get to microchips/semi-conductors. Otherwise, this are just games to see who blinks first. Remember ZTE and why they had to quickly rollback.