Tab A7 - United States and Chinese Tariffs on Canada’s Fish and Seafood Sector

On this page:

• Chinese Surtax on Canadian Fish and Seafood
• U.S. Surtax and Executive Order (EO) - “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness”
• Annex
  • Industry Support Measures
  • Supports for Employees
  • Financing Support
  • Marketing and Branding Support
  • Market Diversification Support
  • Support for Sector Innovation

Chinese Surtax on Canadian Fish and Seafood

• On March 8, 2025, China announced the conclusion of an investigation it initiated against Canada on September 26, 2024, in response to Canada’s surtaxes on electric vehicles (EVs) and on steel and aluminum from China.
• In response, as of March 20, 2025, China imposed retaliatory duties on 72 tariff lines of imports from Canada, valued at $3.6 billion and equivalent to 5.6 per cent of China’s total imports from Canada in 2024. This includes 49 aquatic products subject to the additional 25 per cent tariff, including crab, shrimp, prawns, clams, lobster, sea cucumbers, geoduck and Greenland halibut products.
• These tariffs do not apply to products imported to Hong Kong, Macau, or to the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei).
• On March 20, 2025, Canada initiated a WTO Dispute Settlement (DS) Process with China (DS636).

U.S. Surtax and Executive Order (EO) - “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness”

• There are currently no U.S. tariffs on Canadian fish and seafood products.
• Under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), U.S. imposed a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian potash, energy or energy resources and a 25 per cent tariff on other Canadian goods.
• The U.S. later provided an exemption from these tariffs for goods imported from Canada that qualify for duty-free preferential treatment under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which include fish and seafood products.
• The U.S. has also imposed a 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum and a 25 per cent tariffs on the non-U.S. content of vehicles imported under CUSMA, and on the full value of vehicles not imported under CUSMA. On April 29, 2025, the U.S. offered import adjustment offsets over two years to provide relief from tariffs on non-CUSMA compliant auto parts. It also clarified some of the provisions for how tariffs stack, in areas where multiple tariffs apply to sectors.
• Canadian retaliatory tariffs are currently in place on approximately $90 billion in goods imported from the U.S. The only fish and seafood products with a Canadian tariff are fish oil (imports from U.S. worth $85 million in 2023) and shrimps and prawns in an air tight container ($6.3 million). There are also tariffs on certain fishing gear imported from the U.S.
• On April 17, 2025 the Executive Order on “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness” was released. It establishes an America First Seafood Strategy to promote production, marketing, sale, and export of U.S. fishery and aquaculture products; aims to strengthen domestic processing capacity; and contains provisions to decrease regulations on American fisheries.
• The U.S. administration has imposed “reciprocal” tariffs on most of its trading partners of 10 per cent. It introduced higher tariff rates on April 2, 2025 which are currently in a 90 day pause. China is an exception to this pause: since April 9, Chinese goods entering the U.S. are tariffed at 124%.
• DFO is working closely with federal partners to respond to trade impacts on fish and seafood products. This includes Global Affairs Canada (lead on bilateral engagement with U.S. and China, trade policy, and Trade Commissioner Service); Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (lead on agriculture and food trade and Trade Commissioners, food processor issues); Canadian Food Inspection Agency (lead on sanitary and phytosanitary certification); Canada Border Services Agency (implements tariff measures at borders); the Privy Council Office and Finance Canada.
• 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.
• The Department recently had a strong presence at Seafood Expo North America 2025 and the Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona (May 6-8, 2025) to champion Canada’s seafood industry.

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.

Chinese tariffs, imposed on Canadian products on March 20, 2025, significantly impact agricultural and aquatic products. On March 22, 2025, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced sector-specific supports for the agricultural sector through their AgriStability program. The fish and seafood sector, however, is not eligible for this program.

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

The Government has introduced the following supports and flexibilities through new and existing programs that could support the fish and seafood sector. Of note, there are also existing measures in place for fish harvesters, such as fishing business loans and loan guarantees, offered by provincial governments that complement federal supports and additional supports and flexibilities that are being introduced to respond to tariffs.

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 program including:
  • Temporarily waive of the one-week employment insurance (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.

Market Diversification Support

• 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 provide companies funding to support business scale up and reach new markets.
  • On March 21, 2025 the Government announced they would provide more funding to Canada’s Regional Development Agencies, so they can better support businesses.

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), are delivered by the Government of Canada with a 70:30 federal to provincial funding share. The Funds 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.