Canada drops U.S. seafood tariffs, easing pressure on Atlantic fish processors

The original retaliatory list included many seafood items, most of them subject to a 25 % tariff.

On Wednesday night the federal government announced that U.S. fish and seafood products were being taken off that list, saying the change was based on feedback.

“The whole Atlantic fisheries industry is relieved that this tariff has been taken away from the list,” said Gilles Thériault, former president of the New Brunswick Crab Processors Association.

The sector is tightly linked to the United States; Nat Richard, executive director of the Lobster Processors Association, explained that American lobster is sent to Canadian plants during the off‑season and then shipped back to the U.S. for sale.

Richard warned that a 25 % tariff would have made processing in Canada economically “impossible” and could have forced the early closure of several plants that employ hundreds of workers.

Other seafood producers also feared broad impacts, but the removal of the tariff removes the most immediate threat to processing operations and jobs.

Finance Minister François‑Philippe Champagne told reporters that the update was “the right thing to do in the interest of Canada.”

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