Question Period Note: Tariffs on Canadian Fish and Seafood

• Our Government is committed to standing up for Canadian fish and seafood businesses and workers. We will continue to defend them from the harmful effects of unfair trade policies.
• My colleagues and I are actively engaging in constructive dialogue with officials from the United States and China to address trade concerns.
• The Government of Canada has a robust system of economic support programs and a system for putting in place new trade resiliency measures for businesses and workers directly or indirectly impacted by tariffs.

• The United States (U.S.) is Canada’s largest fish and seafood export market. Canadian goods compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), including harvested fish and seafood, are exempt from U.S. tariffs.
• On August 22, Prime Minister (PM) Carney announced that Canada would remove retaliatory tariffs on certain U.S. origin goods that are covered under CUSMA, following U.S. confirmation that it will not impose tariffs on CUSMA-compliant goods.
• China is Canada’s second largest export market for fish and seafood. Products subject to this new tariff represent roughly 93 per cent of the value of Canadian fish and seafood exports to China ($1.3 billion in 2024).
• As of March 20, 2025, China imposed 25 per cent tariff on select Canadian imports, including crab, shrimp, prawn, clams, lobster, sea cucumber, geoduck (Pacific region only), Greenland halibut products, and herring oils.
• On June 5, 2025, PM Carney raised concerns with Premier Li about China’s trade measures. They agreed to maintain regular communication and revive the Canada-China Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETC), which last met in 2017. An Economic Partnership Working Group meeting was held on August 8, 2025 in Beijing and a JETC meeting on August 26, 2025 in Ottawa.
• On June 23, 2025 the dispute settlement body of the World Trade Organization agreed to review additional import duties imposed by China on certain Canadian agricultural and fisheries products.
• The Department is working with federal departments, agencies, and through bilateral and joint engagement with industry, provinces and territories, and Indigenous partners, including sharing accurate and timely information on actions and clarifying impacts and supports.
• On September 5, 2025, PM Carney announced a comprehensive package of new measures for workers and businesses in sectors most impacted by trade disruptions. Supports that are most relevant to Canadian fish and seafood businesses include: Employment Insurance (EI) measures, Regional Tariff Response Initiative (RTRI), increased funding to the AgriMarketing program and Immediate Liquidity Relief. The Government will extend the temporary EI waiver of the one-week waiting period so that workers will receive benefits for the first week of unemployment (investment of $418M over two years). Additionally, the Government will invest $1.6B over five years to temporarily give long-tenured workers 20 extra weeks of income support, up to a maximum of 65 weeks.
• The $1B RTRI, delivered through regional development agencies over three years, includes non-repayable contributions of up to $1M to allow more small and medium-sized enterprises grow, diversify, and innovate.
• The Government will invest an additional $75M over five years to strengthen Agriculture and Agrifood Canada’s AgriMarketing Program, to expand the program into high-growth areas such as Africa, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific.
• To support tariff-impacted sectors, the Government will provide immediate liquidity relief by increasing the Business Development Bank of Canada maximum loan size from $2M to $5M.

If pressed on what progress has Canada made in addressing China’s tariffs
• On March 20, 2025, Canada filed a request for dispute settlement consultations with China at the World Trade Organization in response to China’s unjustified tariffs on Canadian canola oil, canola meal, and peas, as well as certain pork, fish, and seafood products.
• On June 5, 2025, the Prime Minister raised concerns with Premier Li about China’s trade actions affecting Canadian exports. They agreed to regularize channels of communication and revive the Canada-China Joint Economic and Trade Committee in 2025, which last met in 2017.
If pressed on what progress has Canada made in addressing U.S. tariffs
• At this time, goods compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement remain exempt from U.S. tariffs. Under the Agreement, there is no U.S. tariff on Canadian fish and seafood exported to the U.S.
• Canada and the United States are in the process of defining a new economic and security partnership; one rooted in mutual respect and founded on shared interests to advance common priorities.