US President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on the protection of American lobsters lobster fishermen, Reuters reported.

“If those purchase commitments are not met, the United States Trade Representative has been directed to use his discretion to impose ... reciprocal tariffs on the China seafood industry,” trade adviser Peter Navarro told reporters, referring to $150 million in purchase commitments Beijing made under the Phase 1 US-China trade deal.

According to the memo, "China’s retaliatory assault on the American lobster industry was particularly aggressive.  On July 6, 2018, China imposed retaliatory 25 percent tariffs on American lobster.  On September 1, 2019, China raised those retaliatory tariffs to 35 percent.  On February 14, 2020, China reduced its punitive lobster tariffs to 30 percent.  When those retaliatory tariffs are added to China’s prevailing Most Favored Nation tariffs of 5 percent and 7 percent, depending on the species of lobster, American lobsters currently face tariffs of either 35 percent or 37 percent."

"At this time, it remains unclear to what extent China’s exclusions from its retaliatory tariffs will result in increased exports of United States lobster.  Such exports are particularly important because exports to the European Union, another large market for United States lobster, appear to have been significantly and negatively affected by the recent implementation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union," the memorandum said.