United States President Donald Trump and the European Union have agreed to scrap tariffs on American lobster, including a list of European products as part of an agreement that may help ease trade frictions between the two sides.
The end in tariffs on American lobsters is also seen to help Trump and a Republican senator in their political pursuits in a state clobbered by the U.S.' trade dispute with China.
Europe's lifting of tariffs should provide some breather to some of Maine's 10,000 fishermen and support staff. As part of the deal, the European Union agreed to slash 8 percent of the tariff on the product until 2025 and plans to make the cut permanent.
The commodity is valuable to Maine, where it is a half-billion-dollar industry yearly. China, the second-biggest buyer of American lobsters, slapped a 25 percent tariff on the crustacean. The retaliatory tax hurt U.S. exports.
The U.S., for its part, agreed to slash by 50 percent tariffs on European imports valued at roughly $160 million annually. The cut, which includes glassware, prepared meals, and propellant powders are retroactive to August 1.
The deal – announced by European Union Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer – is the first tariff markdown the two countries have agreed on in over 20 years.
Europe had agreed to approve the deal after Trump said he would impose bigger tariffs on European automobiles if it refused to cut tariffs on live and frozen U.S. lobsters.
The U.S. did not push through with a planned hike in tariffs earlier this month that it said it would impose on European subsidies for Airbus, which Europe views as an improvement in relations with the U.S.
Maine Lobster Dealers Association executive director Annie Tselikis said EU's cancellation of tariffs on U.S. lobsters is "a significant achievement" that balances the market for the state's lobster business.
For Maine's independent senator Angus King, the latest U.S.-Europe trade accord is "a great piece of news," The lobster industry, he said, has been suffered a great amount of stress in the last years.
According to the European Commission, the total value of the trade deal is approximately $200 million. Last year, the U.S. exported almost $50 million of lobster products to the European Union. In 2017, the U.S. shipped $111 million worth of lobsters to the EU, before dropping in the wake of mounting frictions between trading allies, including an EU deal with Canada that favored the country's lobsters.
