U.S. President Donald Trump has paused planned 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods, barring a 10 percent carveout for energy, following a conversation with Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trump announced on his Truth Social social media platform that Canada has “agreed to ensure we have a secure Northern Border” as part of a CAD 1.3 billion (USD 917 million, EUR 874 million) border plan. The move came just hours after he also balked at applying 25 percent tariffs to Mexico for a month, based on similar promises that the country would increase security at its border with the U.S.
“I am very pleased with this initial outcome, and the Tariffs announced on Saturday will be paused for a 30 day period to see whether or not a final Economic deal with Canada can be structured,” Trump wrote.
The U.S. is currently operating under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a trade deal that replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2018. The USMCA was negotiated by and agreed to by Trump in his first term.
Canada’s border plan was also previously announced in December 2024, before Trump was inaugurated.
While the U.S. has paused its tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Trump has not mentioned the 10 percent tariff that he is planning to place on China and Hong Kong, that will add to existing tariffs. The additional tariffs have very narrow exceptions, none of which include exceptions for seafood aside from food donated to alleviate human suffering.
As the tariffs began to take effect, the New York Times reported China has begun retaliating against the U.S. with tariffs on U.S. coal, gas, farm machinery, and large displacement cars and pickup trucks. It also implemented export restrictions on minerals used by high-tech industries.
The China Ministry of Commerce’s list did not include any seafood items.
Despite the last-minute pause of tariffs by Trump, companies in Canada are still forced to grapple with the possibility the 30-day pause is just a pause and tariffs could go into effect in March.
The Fish Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW) and the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) – which represent snow crab harvesters and processors in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador and have previously been at odds on prices paid to snow crab harvesters – held a joint press conference to discuss how the fishery should react to the threatened tariffs.
“Our number one priority is to ensure a fishery goes ahead this season,” FFAW President Dwan Street said. “We have been at every table, working with Premier Furey and our provincial government to protect the fishery and mitigate effects of a potential tariff on seafood exports.”
A 25 percent tariff would hit the Canadian snow crab fishery hard, as according to NOAA Fisheries statistics the U.S. imported USD 684 million (EUR 658 million) in snow crab products in 2023.
“This is arguably the most serious threat to Newfoundland and Labrador fisheries since the cod moratorium, in my view,” ASP Executive Director Jeff Loder said during the conference. “There’s one important thing that we need to remember and focus on, our fisheries haven’t collapsed. We have the largest snow crab fishery in the world, we have an increase in other fisheries quotas recently, we have an opportunity to have a fishery in 2025. But there won’t be a fishery unless all parties take this as serious as it needs to be taken.”
