Tilapia’s reign as America’s favourite fish may be over as Trump taxes Chinese seafood

Tilapia’s rise to ubiquity across US restaurants and seafood aisles over the past decade has been rapid. Now that the Trump administration has targeted Chinese seafood with a 10 per cent tariff, its golden age may be coming to an end.

The fish, popular for its mild taste and low cost, is among the estimated US$200 billion of items that could rise in price for US consumers as President Donald Trump aims to erase the nation’s long-standing trade deficit. Now, importers and distributors are on high alert to see whether tilapia emerges unscathed from a late-August public comment period on the proposed tariffs.

If not, the product could become an example of how even minor cost increases can reverberate across supply chains and economies as the hospitals, nursing homes and schools that buy frozen Chinese tilapia are forced to look elsewhere for cheap protein – or pay more.

“We can’t absorb the cost of tariffs if we have to pay more for tilapia,” said Dan Fusco, President of Global Food Trading, an importer and distributor of frozen fish to wholesale distributors. “We will raise the prices.”

The US receives more than 80 per cent of its frozen tilapia fillets from China, and 2018 imports through May from the country totalled about US$82.4 million, according to data from Urner Barry, a research firm for the food industry. While the US gets most of its fresh tilapia from Latin America, the frozen variety has gained traction because of its lower cost. And with the US lacking tilapia processing plants, companies don’t have an easy replacement if Chinese supply gets costlier.

Kevin Fitzsimmons, a professor and researcher at the University of Arizona as well as a director of Americas Tilapia Alliance, says that US consumers will suffer more than Chinese producers, since they have made inroads in other markets such as Europe, Russia and the Middle East.