July 3, 2018 โ China is slated to impose a 25 percent tariff on U.S. seafood โ including Alaskaโs โ by the end of this week, as part of increasingly heated trade negotiations between the two nations.
According to a recent report by the McDowell Group, seafood is Alaskaโs second largest employer โ with 41,200 jobs created by the $2.1 billion industry. China is the stateโs largest trading partner.
โThis is worrisome, weโll work this through with the administration,โ Sen. Lisa Murkowski said of the sanctions, set to take effect on Friday, July 6.
Murkowski was in Anchorage Monday with U.S. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, as part of his tour around the state.
While worried about seafood, Murkowski said she is encouraged that China isnโt going after natural gas. In April, Gov. Bill Walkerโs administration hoped the stateโs potential partnership with China on a natural gas pipeline project could protect the state in a national trade war. But this latest threat to seafood indicates that may not be the case.
โIt does raise a question about how they view what Alaska has available in terms of trade,โ Murkowski said.
While in Alaska this weekend, Acosta visited a fishery in King Salmon.