Federal government removes seafood and fish products from counter

Federal government removes seafood and fish products from counter-tariff list

Initial retaliatory tariff list included many seafood products, mostly taxed at 25% rate

Finance Canada has removed fish and seafood products from a list of counter-tariffed items, just a day after the government initially hit back at the U.S. with retaliatory measures.

The government announced the change late Wednesday night, saying adjustments were made based on "feedback."

“We are continually working ⁠with Canadian industries to assess the ⁠effectiveness of these measures, with ⁠a ⁠primary ​focus on industries that have been targeted ​by U.S. ⁠tariffs,” the statement said.

The change came a day after the federal government announced counter-tariffs on $27.6 billion worth of U.S. goods, in an effort to hit back at new 50 per cent tariffs the U.S. imposed over the weekend on a similar slate of goods when trade talks broke down.

Many of the goods on the initial list were seafood products, taxed at a 25 per cent rate.

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The government didn't add any details, but said it would maintain its "dollar-for-dollar and rate-for-rate response to U.S. products."

Some in the fisheries industry expressed concern earlier in the week about the impact the retaliatory measures would have on their business, with one industry group saying they felt "blindsided" by the inclusion of seafood on the list.

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Abby Hughes is a writer with CBC News based in Toronto. Originally from Orillia, Ont., she studied journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University. She covers news from the worlds of business, entertainment, health, science and education, and her favourite stories focus on the real people in those areas — the customers, fans, patients, citizens and students. You can reach her with story ideas at abby.hughes@cbc.ca.