On April 2, U.S. President Donald Trump made good on his promise to impose “reciprocal” tariffs, announcing a series of measures that will affect nearly every country in the world, and could cost seafood importers billions of dollars in the U.S.
Trump, who called his tariff action “Liberation Day,” signed an order to impose a 10% tariff on all countries starting April 5th and additional tariffs on several ones that will take effect on April 9th.
According to the White House, these tariffs are aimed at “rebuilding the economy and restoring national and economic security.” In his executive order, Trump stated that annual U.S. trade deficits are caused, in large part, by a lack of reciprocity in bilateral trade relations.
The impact of the new tariffs varies by country and by line of business; in ours the tariffs will primarily affect major seafood exporters to USA, and it is estimated that U.S. importers will have to pay more for products such as seafood, which could put in risk up to 1.6 million jobs in the retailing and restaurants activities.