The new reciprocal 34% tariffs announced by the United States and China could especially impact Alaska seafood prices, due to the state’s heavy reliance on exports and Chinese labor.
The tariffs have been a moving target. On March 4, President Donald Trump imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports, which brought the cumulative tariff’s to 20% on top of existing tariffs from Trump’s first term, which were basically left in place by President Joe Biden.
Then there is the new 34% tariff on top of that. China immediately reciprocated by imposing a 34% tariff.
The tariffs will affect Alaska seafood sent over and processed in China and re-exported to the US, a common practice for Alaska products like pollock and salmon. Over half of Alaska’s fish is sent to China, where pin bones are removed by cheap labor, then is re-imported as packaged for retail to the US.
While Alaska salmon is headed and gutted on this side of the Pacific Ocean, to process fillets and remove pin bones is very labor intensive, so companies like Trident Seafoods and others use the massive processing centers in cities like Qingdao, Dalian, and Yantai in Shandong and Liaoning provinces, which are global seafood processing centers.
China uses forced labor, including conditions that Americans would view as slave labor, in Qingdao and other parts of Shandong Province to process fish. Qingdao has a reputation for using and abusing minorities, particularly Uyghurs and North Koreans, in its seafood processing plants.
The “dual tariffs” now in place as Alaska moves into fishing season will increase cost of processing, which will be passed along to consumers and could soften the demand for wild Alaska salmon.
Meanwhile, farmed salmon from Scotland, Norway, and Chile, are also processed in these same facilities. Those farmed salmon products have very low tariffs — in the teens — between the respective countries. Alaska wild salmon is already significantly more expensive than the farmed salmon that is ubiquitous in the Lower 48.
With China as Alaska’s largest seafood export market, there could be a surplus of seafood in the US market in the coming salmon harvesting season, potentially depressing wholesale prices paid to Alaska fishermen and processors, at least in the short term.
One of the outcomes might be that processors in Alaska turn to domestic processing, which has higher labor costs associated with it than the near forced-labor in China.
As for Chinese consumers, they may turn to competitors like Russia or Norway, as happened in 2018 during a trade war, when Russian pollock imports to the US surged as a result of Chinese tariffs on the US, which led to a 20% drop in seafood sales to China, impacting 65% of Alaska seafood businesses.
Now, if American consumers shift to domestic seafood to avoid tariffed imports (mainly Chinese tilapia, prawns, or shrimp), demand for Alaskan products could rise, which might offset some price drops.
Alaska’s seafood industry employs nearly 70,000 people and generates over $5 billion annually. It’s big business, although less than 10% of Alaska’s GDP.
The US-China reciprocal tariffs will be a dynamic condition that may reduce demand and increase costs in the short-term, and may boost domestic jobs that require the use of more workers coming to the US on the H-2B visa, a non-immigrant visa that allows US employers to bring foreign workers in seasonally for temporary seafood processing jobs when there are not enough US workers available. These H-2B visa workers are especially critical for Bristol Bay salmon runs.
As labor markets and supply chains adjust, Alaska fishing companies and US consumers will likely feel the pinch — at least in the short-term.
Chinese slave labor should be banned in the fishing industry! MAGA
Agree.
What changes? Pricing. Commodities, raw goods, finished goods. Anything imported, including re-imported goods as described in the well-written article above
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How to adjust: tastes and preferences. Americans need to change their usual patterns, at least temporarily.
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Outcome: favorable to US because all other countries will also have to adjust, and many are not equipped to adjust as are Americans.
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Final: reinvigorated capital to the US. More jobs, manufacturing, and investment in our country.
Do you believe in the Easter Bunny too? There is no economic evidence for your beliefs.
It’s called Mercantilism.
Economically it’s beneficial for a company to have more exports than imports.
If every country wasn’t imposing tariffs on US mfd goods – our economy would be way larger than it is.
We need a vibrant mfg base.
We need good jobs for the blue collar workers so they can live the American dream.
So it’s short-term pain for long-term gain is it? How many times have I heard that this week, including from the mouth of that repulsive White House communications director, Karoline Leavitt?
Everybody knows that the stock market is all about the future. It’s not about the present, it’s about future expectations. And what the market is telling us right now, when it’s plunging every day, is that the future is bleak under the new economic conditions imposed by MAGA, not bright.
I’d say the Conservatives better brace themselves for the upcoming Midterms, because they are going to lose very bigly. Very, very bigly indeed.
Fisherman received tariff relief checks in trumps first term and our prices were quite fair.
Between this news and a barrel of oil dropping $10 this week I have reached the point where all this winning has to stop!
Eeyour…….. is this really you ?
They say, “It may be uncomfortable for a bit…but worth it!”
I mean, oil and fish industries are worth sacrificing for the greater good! ?! Just when you think Alaska has hit the bottom floor…there appears to be another few levels below.
I for one will pay the higher costs for seafood. It’s good for American/Alaskan workers.
I support all the tariffs that are being done.
What ever happened to our Alaskan college students working in the canneries to earn their schooling expenses??..Back in the mid 70’s, Students from the “lower 48” came up here to work and earn their OWN college money. ARE our students to “proud” to work to earn their own $$$. It may not pay for everything, but it would help on their school expenses.. We have many student that needs to find jobs instead of using Gov’t $$.
Students are sitting on their thumbs in hopes of a second Joe Biden term so he can forgive their college debt.
Why work when it can be had for free?
Guess it is time for the seafood industry to finally purchase pin bone removal machines instead of paying cheap chinese labor and the freight charges over and back of the fish product to and from China.
‘https://pisces-ind.com/machine/pinboning-machines/
‘https://marel.com/en/products/pinbone-remover-ms-2612/
‘https://uni-food.com/processing-steps/pin-bone-removal/pin-bone-remover-400-series/
‘https://rycous.com/our-products/f/659-pinboner
I’m open to other plans to re-shore American manufacturing and have fair trade. There doesn’t seem to be any other then Trumps plan. If you don’t like his plan what is yours, because I am looking at a bankrupt country with deep corruption and few ways out of the hole we dug for ourselves.
Maybe pray over it Micah, and see if that helps. Bur probably not, because the laws of economics are indomitable.
There are other possibilities such as letting China have all the profit in exchange for a cash kickback to “the Big Guy”.
Two thoughts cross my mind:
1) I always remove my own pin bones, and always did for my mother too.
2) If all goes well, I might be able to afford some Alaska King Crab this year…. I can always hope!
That’s exactly what I was thinking!!
It is a shame that China, a country that politically hates us and would love to see our demise, is the main customer for our salmon. I hope other customers who are more favorable to our country will be found, including maybe more availability to Americans.
Hear Hear!
Or should I say
Here Here!
The things we never knew. This is shocking. If our country and state cannot run without china then it’s already too late for us. Who used to take out the pin bones before we used chinese slave labor???? How inept have we become? I don’t have anyone taking out pin bones when I catch my own salmon. Just ridiculous.
I did it on a D. Harbor factory trawler for 3 seasons & was glad to have the $ in rural AK.
It was also done at ‘shore plants’ in Akutan & other locations.
That was pollack …. it has to be really clean for the breaded ‘filet-o-fish’ sandwiches at McD’s.
No skin, bones or parasites in the fillets (which are white)
I worked w/ people from all over the country and all over the world on those boats.
The Chinese slave nonsense is exactly the kind of thing we have to stop.
It’s corruption.
PS: the rejected fillets (skin, bone & bugs) went into the ‘mincer’ and became fish sticks
Careful what you eat …..lol.
Alaska has wasted petroleum revenues to subsidize the salmon industry for decades. This situation presents an opportunity to stop doing that. We should ban the processing of Alaska salmon in China while we stop subsidizing the commercial salmon industry. Charter and personal use need to have priority in salmon allocations.
The commercial salmon industry, especially the gear groups, successfully lobbied to erase the Alaska forest products industry, blaming logging. pulping, and lumber sawing for fluctuations in salmon returns. Thirty years later salmon returns are far worse than was the case when we had a thriving forest products industry. The trees grew back but the industry is gone forever. Now the salmon industry opposes mining. The gillnet, troll and seine fleets are an anachronism, and the processing jobs went to China. The salmon industry has left us with nothing but excuses. Good riddance.
Great comment
Once again the “seafood industry” expresses indignation with Alaska seafood. Are not 50+% commercial licenses held by those outside of Alaska? Sounds like a WA, OR, CA problem again.
Is it naive to say, perhaps if the foreigners fish their own waters, AK fishermen would thrive… Nothing more disconcerting than touring the waterways of Seattle and seeing their banner bragging that their waterway is home to “the Alaska Fishing Fleet”.
good point, maybe our salmon might start thriving again
Yep …. A WASHINGTON state industry.
The majority of Alaskan limited entry permits have been sold to outsiders.
But that WASHINGTON state industry controls Southeast AK fishermen, artists & hippies.
Bullies if you ask me.
The tariffs, and their effect of slamming uncertain conditions on the markets we depend on, hammered our investments this week. Don’t look at your personal investments unless you want to puke.
Political posturing is the stupidest way to govern Econ conditions. But that won’t affect the Tanned Turd and his friends; they can ride out anything. But if you work in the Trades and calculated retiring soon, think again. A huge chunk of your change just evaporated.
And many of the people to whom you refer actually voted for the guy. Rest assured, they will not make a similar mistake again.
I’m retired from the trades …. 3 pensions from 3 diff locals.
Was like this my whole career – up & down.
Interesting: Only a Trump voter can “ride out anything”?
Are Dems too soft? Spendthrifts?
They blew it w/ the blue collar crowd, way back when they let Asia take our steel & auto
without a fight
The problems Trump has created for Alaska keep mounting. Trump, the “former” Democrat has enacted massive tax increase on Americans, and many in his base defend him. Trump has now tanked the stock market, wiping out trillions in wealth because he wants government to interfere with the trade businesses around the world voluntarily engage in.
His ‘reciprocal’ tariffs are a total lie. The formula he invented has nothing to do with tariffs, but a division of the relative trade surpluses/deficits we have with the respective nations.
The APFC is the single biggest source of revenue for Alaska to run its government. With the Permanent Fund losing significant value thanks to Trump, we could lose significant earnings. Those lost earnings could very well trigger a significant downturn. Even before this liberal lunacy of massive new taxes imposed by Trump Alaska is facing deficits. Now what? Some legislators will want income and sales taxes. That would only damage our economy more. But without adequate revenue we will need to start getting rid of key services. Alaska must pass a balanced budget. So we either raise new revenue, or cut services- or do some combination of both. We will also lose the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend, or see those further reduced. I’d bet that will be one of the first things to go.
Begich and Sullivan better stop hiding behind Trump’s coattails. Or they will be replaced.
China farm raises tilapia, shrimp and prawns (and other seafod species). Their farming conditions are geared towards maximum growth, but the conditions are far from clean. Food often includes nutrient-rich but terribly unsanitary sources like pig feces. I won’t purchase any farm-raised seafood from SE Asia.
Fisherman received tariff relief checks in trumps first term and our prices were quite fair.
Maybe(?) … It’s time to reconsider the opportunities in Aqua-Farming within AK907? Yes, farmed fish with high standards and quality. We have the resources to make this happen.
Commercial fishing is (including those invasive and destructive Foreign Trawlers) clearly wiping out natural fisheries, hence the closure of sportfishing industry in South Central, with the next target to be South East. And to think they closed down the high-potential Pebble Mine for the risk of damaging the fishery industry … HA-HA(!!!), what a joke! Alaskan’s were expertly played for fools.
OMG pin bones!!!!
pollock? aren’t those caught be trawlers?
so if pollock becomes too expensive because of tarrifs, then what happens? trawlers go out of business?
I worked ‘candling’ (pin bones) on a factory trawler out of Dutch for 3 seasons (hard work)
Along w/ Native Alaskans, Mexicans, Norwegians, Poles, Vietnamese, Washingtonians, college students and adults from all over the 48.
The hippies want that to stop.
They want it all to be slave labor.
Something tells me that the pin bone removal should be done in Alaska. College students who WANT to work should work. Do we have enough college studens who WANT to work? Just curious if they only feel entitled to grants and loans and someone else to finish paying their education bill? I would have been embarrassed to have expected that without working to earn it. Parents of these children have not taught them veryy well have they. Now society is suffering. Will the current generation do a better job?
College debt forgiveness has an effect on college students who are smart enough to expect a handout.
Is that their fault?
Good senatorial representation may get Alaska an exemption but a better solution would be for west coast states involved in the industry to gang up for fishermen and their consumers.
Hands off our fish! 🦗🦗💸