America’s Loss is Canada’s Gain in Lobster Market

U.S. lobster exports to China have fallen off a cliff this year as retaliatory tariffs shift the seafood business north.

China, a huge and growing customer for lobster, placed heavy tariffs on U.S. lobsters in July 2018 amid rising trade hostilities.

Since then, business boomed in Canada, where cargo planes are coming to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Moncton, New Brunswick, to handle a growing bump in exports. Canadian fishermen catch the same species of lobster as Americans, who are based mostly in Maine.

America has exported less than 2.2 million pounds of lobster to China this year through June, according to the U.S. federal government. The country exported nearly 12 million pounds during that same period last year. That’s a more than 80 percent drop.

In Canada, exports to China through June were already approaching 33 million pounds—nearly as much as all of 2018.

The value of Canada’s exports was nearing $200 million in U.S. dollars through June and was almost sure to outstrip last year’s total of more than $223 million. U.S. exports through June were valued at less than $19 million, more than $70 million behind where they were through June 2018.

Lobster prices paid by U.S. consumers have remained fairly steady during the trade dispute.

U.S. lobster exports to China have fallen off a cliff this year as retaliatory tariffs shift the seafood business north.

China, a huge and growing customer for lobster, placed heavy tariffs on U.S. lobsters in July 2018 amid rising trade hostilities.

Since then, business boomed in Canada, where cargo planes are coming to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Moncton, New Brunswick, to handle a growing bump in exports. Canadian fishermen catch the same species of lobster as Americans, who are based mostly in Maine.

America has exported less than 2.2 million pounds of lobster to China this year through June, according to the U.S. federal government. The country exported nearly 12 million pounds during that same period last year. That’s a more than 80 percent drop.

In Canada, exports to China through June were already approaching 33 million pounds—nearly as much as all of 2018.

The value of Canada’s exports was nearing $200 million in U.S. dollars through June and was almost sure to outstrip last year’s total of more than $223 million. U.S. exports through June were valued at less than $19 million, more than $70 million behind where they were through June 2018.

Lobster prices paid by U.S. consumers have remained fairly steady during the trade dispute.

Source: Omaha World Herald