Maine’s four congressional representatives – U.S. senators Angus King and Susan Collins, and U.S. representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden – have sent a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump urging he provide relief for the state’s lobster industry in the wake falling exports due to the ongoing trade war between the United States and China.
The trade war, kicked off via a series of escalating tariffs imposed by both the U.S. and China on goods from the other country, has had a dramatic effect on the state’s lobster exports. Maine’s exports to China plunged 84 percent due to Chinese tariffs on the product.
“One of the first victims of retaliation imposed by China after the initial round of tariffs was lobster shipped from Maine,” the delegation wrote. “Prior to these tariffs, China had become the second largest importer of Maine lobster. During 2017 – the last full year before the tariffs went into effect – Chinese customers purchased USD 128.5 million [EUR 113.4 million] of lobster from Maine, and during the first half of 2018, U.S. lobster exports to China increased by 169 percent.”
The letter pointed out that the U.S. government has given extensive aid to American farmers who have been hit by retaliatory tariffs. Recently, Trump announced a USD 16 billion (EUR 14.1 billion) bailout to help farmers, particularly of soybeans, who have been hit hard by China’s tariffs.
“We’ve got an industry that’s suffering exactly the same kind of negative effects,” King said in an interview with the Washington Post. “Why not lobsters? There’s no logical distinction that I can see … I’m sure a lot of people in Maine had the same reaction I did watching that press conference: What are we, chopped lobster?”
The letter calls for the federal government to treat the Maine lobster industry similarly.
“You have recognized that the federal government should compensate innocent citizens who have been harmed by the trade dispute with China,” the delegation’s letter to Trump states. “The [USD] 16 billion [EUR 14.1 billion] in agricultural aid that you have directed [U.S. Department of Agriculture] Secretary Purdue to provide farmers, however, will not assist the hardworking people of Maine’s lobster industry who – like agricultural farmers — rely on nature’s bounty to fuel their livelihood.”
