The government of Canada has announced a sweeping set of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, including 25 percent duties on fish and seafood.
The U.S. and Canada had been undergoing trade talks after U.S. President Donald Trump continuously threatened Canada with tariffs since taking office in January 2025, including threats of 100 percent tariffs in February 2026 after Canada and China finalized a trade deal. Those trade talks had become rocky in recent months, with United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer announcing tariffs as high as 50 percent on Canadian goods in July, even as the two countries discuss the United States, Mexico, Canada agreement (USMCA) – a trade deal that Trump established in 2020.
The U.S. and Canada had appeared close to a deal, and Trump posted on social media that he was pausing scheduled tariffs based on a deal between the two countries.
Despite the positive progress, media reports indicated last-minute demands by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick were to blame for the failed negotiations, with sources claiming Lutnick was opposed to lowering a levy on Canada-made automobiles; however, neither the Trump administration nor the Canadian government have confirmed the reasons for the fallout.
Due to the fallout, the U.S.’s scheduled 50 percent tariffs on billions in Canadian goods were enacted on 22 August, and Canada recently announced it is enacting tariffs on billions of U.S. goods in turn, including fish and seafood.
“The Government of Canada has negotiated intensively and in good faith with the United States toward a fair and comprehensive trade agreement that would protect Canadian workers and their families, strengthen the economy, provide greater certainty for businesses, and respect Canada’s sovereignty,” Canada’s Department of Finance announced. “In recent days, however, the U.S. proposed new terms that were not in Canada’s best interest, basically asking too much of Canada and offering too little in return. Canada, therefore, suspended negotiations rather than accepting a bad deal that would undermine Canadian workers, businesses, strategic sectors, and our national interest. Canada did not choose this trade conflict, but we need to respond to provide a level playing field to our businesses.”
Canada said the primary objective of the counter-tariffs is to protect Canadian workers, and fish and seafood are planned to be subject to a 25 percent tariff. Included in that list are live fish, salmon products, tuna products, herring, tilapia, and lobster whether live or frozen.
Canada is by far the U.S’s largest seafood trading partner, with the U.S. importing USD 4.3 billion (EUR 3.7 billion) from Canada in 2025. It is also a top export destination, and the U.S. sent USD 881 million (EUR 755 million) in seafood goods to Canada the same year. Lobster is a major source of that export and import value, with the U.S. exporting USD 248 million (EUR 212 million) worth of lobster to Canada in 2025 and importing USD 1.5 billion (EUR 1.3 billion) of the product from the country in the same period.
