Salmon, swordfish, trout, and shellfish all made a list of products targeted for a fresh round of tariffs the U.S. government is aiming to implement in retaliation for European Union subsidies for airplane manufacturer Airbus.
Following a World Trade Organization compliance panel finding on 2 December that the E.U. has not significantly curbed subsidies to Airbus, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative published a list of hundreds of items on which it may seek to impose tariffs. The United States initiated a previous round of tariffs of up to 25 percent on a range of E.U. goods in October, which included preserved mussels, clams, cockles, razor claims, and molluscs.
“In light of … the lack of progress in efforts to resolve this dispute, the United States is initiating a process to assess increasing the tariff rates and subjecting additional E.U. products to the tariffs,” the USTR said in a press release.
The new list of harmonized tariff schedule (HTS) subheadings targeted for tariffs include numerous items that concern seafood, including fresh and chilled salmon and trout fillets, preserved or prepared salmon, frozen swordfish fillets, swordfish steaks, frozen crabmeat, cooked crabs, smoked oysters, preserved herring, and preserved or prepared cuttlefish, squid, abalone, scallops, and octopus.
The its official Federal Register Notice, the USTR said the items on the list may be subject to duties of up to 100 percent. It plans to review public comment on the list by mid-January, according to the notice.
If salmon remains a target of U.S. tariffs, the Scottish salmon industry will be particularly hard-hit, according to Julie Hesketh-Laird, CEO of Scottish Salmon Producers Organization. Last year, the total value of Scottish salmon exports was approximately EUR 200 million (USD 223 million)
“We are disappointed to see Scottish salmon products are now on a potential target list for U.S. tariffs,” Hesketh-Laird said in a press release. “If imposed, these tariffs would not be in the interests of Scottish salmon farmers or the U.S. consumer who enjoys a premium quality product from Scotland. We would urge early resolution of the dispute to ensure our American customers continue to have access to the world’s premium salmon.”
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