After seeing the Trump administration announce a USD 16 billion (EUR 14.1 billion) relief package for farmers hurt by the ongoing trade war with China, lawmakers in Alaska want to get fishermen included in the package.
Both of Alaska's U.S. senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, penned a letter along with U.S. Rep. Don Young making that request to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue last week. In it, the Republican legislators describe how Alaska has been essentially been caught in the crossfire between the world’s two biggest economies.
China represents Alaska’s biggest seafood exporter, receiving nearly USD 990 million (EUR 876.9 million) in products annually based on wholesale value. On top of that, Chinese processors play a vital role in Alaska’s seafood supply chain, as they de-bone and process a majority of the seafood caught in the state, which is then distributed frozen back in the U.S. and across the world.
The letter also comes on the heels of a letter they wrote to the U.S. Trade Representative last month, in which the legislators asked Robert Lighthizer to remove U.S.-caught, Chinese-processed seafood from the list of items subject to a 25 percent tariff.
As the countries continue to apply tariffs to each other’s products, Alaska fishermen are seeing China opt to buy products from Russia and other Asian countries.
“China’s retaliatory actions are taking a heavy toll on Alaska seafood, and the consequences of this unjustified retaliation in terms of market and value loss are getting worse over time for seafood producers – just as they are for farmers and ranchers,” the Alaskan delegation wrote.
Alaska isn’t the only state looking for relief for its fishermen. Earlier in the month, Maine’s two senators and two representatives asked for help for the state’s lobster industry.
Before the tariffs took effect, China was become a valuable trade partner as its customers bought USD 128.6 million (EUR 113.9 million) worth in 2017. The market continued to grow through the first half of last year before the tariffs took effect, wrote U.S. Senator Angus King, an independent, and U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a Republican, along with U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, both Democrats.
“We respectfully urge you to provide those segments of our lobster industry affected by these tariffs with relief similar to the aid that you are providing to our nation’s farmers,” the delegation wrote. “Specifically, we request that you provide resources and aid intended to grow domestic demand for U.S. lobster and assist with the development of new export markets. Assistance to the lobster industry will help to lessen the blow of Chinese tariffs on a hallmark American industry that has done nothing to deserve the punishment that it is presently forced to bear.”
