U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) has requested that the Trump administration include Maine’s $1 billion lobster industry in any final trade agreement reached between the United States and the European Union.
“Right now, the Canadians are operating at a huge advantage over our Maine lobster industry when it comes to access to the European market,” Rep. Poliquin wrote in a July 27 letter sent to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer.
“To rectify this and ensure longevity for our Maine lobstermen, processors, distributors, and numerous other indirect workers, I urge you to include lobster into any trade agreement you reach with the European Union,” the congressman wrote.
As ongoing tariff-free trade negotiations between the White House and the European Union continue, Rep. Poliquin wrote that he was making this request “with urgency,” according to his letter.
“These tariffs put the U.S. lobster industry — which directly and indirectly employs more than 10,000 hardworking Mainers and contributes nearly $1 billion to Maine’s economy each year — at serious and immediate financial risk and long term, permanent economic harm,” wrote the lawmaker.
In June, several trade officials from Lighthizer’s office visited Maine at the request of the Maine Congressional delegation, including Rep. Poliquin and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), to meet with more than a dozen members of the state’s lobster industry and to tour a lobster processing facility.
“During the visit, the trade officials were able to see and hear first-hand the important role that the European market plays in the Maine lobster industry’s livelihood and the disadvantage the industry faces as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the European Union and Canada goes into force,” Rep. Poliquin wrote, noting that the CETA permits the Canadian lobster industry to ship unlimited volumes of live lobster duty-free to the European Union. However, U.S. lobster exporters must pay 8 percent tariffs on live lobster shipments to the same market under the CETA.
“To add insult to injury, the recent announcement from China to impose 40 percent tariffs on U.S. lobster came the same month that China dropped tariffs on Canadian lobster down to seven percent,” Rep. Poliquin wrote. “When it comes to trade, the playing field must be fair.”