US lobster industry hopes deal revives trade with China
A dealer at Cape Porpoise holds a 3½-pound lobster in Kennebunkport, Maine, in August. China is one of the biggest lobster markets in the world. AP PHOTO
Modified: 1/15/2020 11:26:29 PM
PORTLAND, Maine — Members of the American lobster industry are hopeful the thawing of trade relations between the U.S. and China will reopen one of the biggest markets in the world for the seafood.
China is one of the biggest export destinations for lobster, which are trapped in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean by American and Canadian fishermen and are worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year. But President Donald Trump’s trade hostilities with China resulted in heavy tariffs on U.S. lobster exports, and Canada took firm control of the business over the last 18 months.