The United States has levied over 600 million US dollars in tariffs on Chinese aquatic products. Til-Agriculture & Food-Hmeonline: Leading B2B Source & Platform Since 2005

According to statistics from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), from September 2018 to March 2021, between the Trump administration and the Biden administration, U.S. seafood importers (including the Chinese supply chain) spent as much as 596.7 million US dollars. After Biden took office, the total tariffs in the first quarter of 2021 were as high as $62.4 million.

U.S. imports of Chinese seafood (volume, value, tariff) from 2018 to March 2021 Source: NOAA

Tilapia has been the hardest hit. In the past 31 months, US importers and companies have spent a total of US$165 million on tariffs. Squid is second, with a tariff of 60.9 million U.S. dollars; shrimp ranks third, with a tax of 44.9 million U.S. dollars.

The United States imported 406,460 tons of seafood from China in 2020, with a total value of approximately US$1.6 billion. The volume of goods decreased by 32% compared with 2018, and the value decreased by 45%.

In the first three months of 2021, the United States imported 93,670 tons of seafood from China, valued at US$376 million.

U.S. seafood imports and exports from 2014 to 2018. Source: NOAA

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has exempted certain seafood tariffs such as haddock during the Trump administration, but the exemption period has already expired at the end of 2020.

By the first quarter of 2021, US haddock importers have spent an additional $2.1 million on tariffs.

Recently, Katherine Tai, the new U.S. trade representative, said at a hearing that whether or not the U.S. authorities accept the cancellation of tariffs on some Chinese products will depend on the evaluation results of the China-U.S. dialogue and the first phase of the agreement.