Two months after new tariffs on sales of live lobsters from the U.S. to China took effect, exports are down nearly 30 percent and Maine lobster dealers are feeling the effects. Some are laying off workers, while others are scrambling to find new markets.
Stephanie Nadeau, the president of The Lobster Co. based in Arundel, says she has lost a third of her business — about $10 million a year in sales to China.
Flaherty: What have the tariffs meant for your business?
It means I had to get rid of about 25 or 30 percent of my staff. We will not be profitable this year. We’re hoping we can wait out the trade war. I don’t know if that’s possible because no one knows how long it will go on. I’ve focused my business on China, and for about the last 8 years, 9 years, that’s been the majority of my business. People are like, “Well, can’t you just go sell your lobsters someplace else?” and it’s like, “Well no, I can’t really go sell my lobsters someplace else because — could you please point me in the direction of a country with 1.3 billion people that eats a lot of live seafood? I don’t know another one.”
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