C5 - United States and Chinese Tariffs on Canada’s Fish and Seafood Sector

U.S. Tariffs

• Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) compliant goods, such as Canadian fish and seafood products, continue to remain U.S. tariff-free provided they meet the Agreement’s rules of origin requirements.
• U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer delivered President Trump’s 2026 Trade Policy Agenda and 2025 Annual Report to Congress on March 2, 2026. The report reinforces an America First Trade Policy and a tougher stance in the 2026 CUSMA joint review, pointing to rising trade deficits with Canada and Mexico and ongoing concerns such as Canada’s dairy restrictions and Mexico’s energy and labour issues. The U.S. has signaled it will only renew CUSMA if these issues are addressed. It also plans to push for tighter supply‑chain rules, stronger protections against non‑market economies, and stricter enforcement of labour and environmental commitments. DFO works closely with Global Affairs Canada (GAC), Finance Canada, the Privy Council Office and Agriculture and Agrifood Canada (AAFC) to respond to trade impacts on fish and seafood products.
• DFO is also working through bilateral and joint engagement mechanisms to dialogue with industry, provinces and territories and Indigenous partners, including sharing accurate and timely information on actions and supports.

Chinese Surtax on Canadian Fish and Seafood

• On January 16, 2026, as part of the Preliminary Agreement-in-Principle between Canada and China, China removed its tariffs on Canadian lobsters and crabs on March 1 until the end of 2026. Removing these tariffs eliminates duties on products representing 59 per cent of export value of Canadian fish and seafood exports to China between January to September 2025.
• About 29 per cent of fish and seafood export value to China will still face tariffs. Some products, like geoduck and sea cucumber, rely primarily on the Chinese market.
• Under the same Agreement, Canada expects China to accelerate the resumption of market access for other  Canadian seafood products.

ANNEX: Industry Support Measures

The Government of Canada has an existing system of economic support programs available to help businesses and workers and has introduced additional measures in response to challenges posed by China and threat of potential U.S. tariffs. These measures range from early response aimed at addressing immediate impacts, to measures that target medium to longer-term activities focused on improving the sector’s resilience through market and trade diversification, investments in improving productivity and competitiveness, and investments in the industry’s sustainability.

The fish and seafood sector has been calling for increased federal support in response to tariffs, including renewed DFO Fisheries Funds (expiring March 31, 2026), stronger domestic market promotion, and support for market diversification.

Supports for Employees

• On March 7, 2025, the Government introduced temporary flexibilities in the Employment Insurance Work-Sharing Program, in response to both China and U.S. tariffs, to avoid layoffs by increased access and maximum agreement duration.
• On March 21, 2025, temporary flexibilities were added to the Employment Insurance (EI) program including:
  • Temporarily waive of the one-week EI waiting period.
  • Temporarily suspending rules around separation (for a six-month period), so workers do not have to exhaust severance pay before collecting EI.
  • Making it easier to access EI by increasing regional unemployment rate percentages.

Financing Support

• Financing and advisory supports for businesses is being offered through financial Crown corporations (e.g., Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Export Development Canada (EDC)) to reduce financial barriers and address cash flow challenges.
• On March 7, 2025, the Government announced $500M in favourably priced loans available through the Business BDC to support impacted businesses in sectors directly targeted by tariffs, as well as companies in their supply chains.
• On March 21, 2025, the Government announced further supports including:
  • Deferral of corporate income tax payments and GST/HST remittances from April 2 to June 30, 2025, providing up to $40 billion in liquidity to businesses.
  • Deployment of a new financing facility for businesses.

Marketing and Branding Support

• AAFC’s Agrimarketing supports national agriculture and agri-food sectors (including fish and seafood) to increase and diversify exports to international markets and seize domestic market opportunities. It does this by increasing the visibility of Canadian products and increasing the capacity of exporting producers to identify and seize market development opportunities in targeted markets.
• Budget 2025 announced a new GAC-led Trade Diversification Strategy to boost Canada’s global exports. As part of this approach, several new tariff response measures have been implemented, including the launch on February 10, 2026 of the new AAFC AgriMarketing Program: Market Diversification streams, providing new funding for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to seize market development opportunities.

Market Diversification Support

• GAC’s Trade Commissioner Service support to help businesses grow and diversify their business operations by connecting them with funding and support programs.
• EDC provides exporters with trade credit insurance solutions and export guarantee options to help companies manage risk.
• On March 7, 2025, the Government announced the launch of the Trade Impact Program through EDC. The program will deploy $5 billion over two years, starting this year, to help exporters reach new markets for Canadian products and help companies navigate the economic challenges imposed by the tariffs, including losses from non-payment, currency fluctuations, lack of access to cash flows, and barriers to expansion
• Regional Development Agencies, such as the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) provide companies funding to support SMEs impacted by tariffs to improve productivity, expand and diversify export markets, optimize supply chains and boost domestic trade.
• On September 5th, 2025 the Government announced $1 Billion funding over three years to the Regional Tariff Response Initiative (RTRI) to support SMEs impacted by trade disruptions, including U.S. or Chinese tariffs and Canadian countermeasures. The funding includes $80 million over three years for ACOA to ensure that Atlantic Canadian SMEs can mitigate the impacts of the tariffs.

Support for Sector Innovation

• DFO’s Fisheries Funds; the Atlantic Fisheries Funds (AFF), the Quebec Fisheries Fund (QFF) and the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF) [Information was severed in accordance with the Access to Information Act.], jointly delivered with participating provinces, focus on three main pillars: innovation, infrastructure, and science partnership, and aim at keeping the sector sustainable and innovative while meeting the growing demands of worldwide markets.