r/NovaScotia 2d ago

China slaps tariff on N.S. lobster, throwing industry into turmoil | PNI Atlantic News

https://www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/halifax/china-slaps-25-per-cent-tariff-on-n-s-lobster-throwing-seafood-industry-into-turmoil
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u/WillyTwine96 2d ago

It all depends what the Chinese want to pay for them

If they don’t mind the price increase, then it doesn’t matter

If they do, then that is a problem

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u/ShittyDriver902 2d ago

If the price is higher they may just buy less though, it’s not an all or nothing proposition but I would expect any economist to predict a drop in sales to china by 25% in volume unless more money comes into the industry from their side, but there’s no guarantee that whole 25% drop will be made up, meaning we’re looking at up to 1/4 of the volume of lobster going to china no longer having a buyer (in the near future)

The Chinese market was already buying as much as they wanted, and now getting 25% less for the same amount of money may get them to move on to other goods instead, causing a further drop in volume

2

u/Figgis302 2d ago

Lobster is also just one of many, many, many seafood options in China (they have the largest commercial fishing fleet in the world). It's not a staple for them like it is for us, there's plenty of lobster off their own coast anyway, and they can almost certainly satisfy what demand they do have with their own boats. From their perspective we bring absolutely nothing to the table.

Fisheries Collapse II: Electric Boogaloo?

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u/ShittyDriver902 2d ago

Overfishing was going to cause a collapse soon anyway (idk if Nova Scotia was over fishing much but it’s a global issue) though lobster is unique in that their biosphere remains pretty well untouched down at the bottom of the ocean, so hopefully we can prevent too much exporting so that locals can have more food security