每日跟讀#668: US exports to lobster-loving China go off cliff amid tariffs

因應報復性關稅戰，中國減少從美國進口龍蝦，轉而將進口目標往北移。

U.S. lobster exports to China have fallen off a cliff this year as new retaliatory tariffs shift the seafood business farther north.

中國的龍蝦市場大且很有潛力，但從去年七月起，中美政府間關係緊張，兩國貿易受到影響，美國龍蝦及許多其他產品都被中國課徵高額的關稅。

China, a huge and growing customer for lobster, placed heavy tariffs on U.S. lobsters — and many other food products — in July 2018 amid rising trade hostilities between the Chinese and the Trump administration.

然而，美國北邊的加拿大相關產業卻因此受益。貨機進出加拿大諾瓦斯科西亞省的哈利法克斯及新伯倫瑞克省的蒙克頓運送劇增的出口龍蝦，且加拿大漁夫捕撈的龍蝦與美國緬因州蝦農捕捉的品種相同。

Meanwhile, business is booming in Canada, where cargo planes are coming to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Moncton, New Brunswick, to handle a growing bump in exports. Canadian fishermen catch the same species of lobster as American lobstermen, who are based mostly in Maine.

緬因州的部分公司由於出口驟減，必須裁員。像是龍蝦公司The Lobster Co., of Arundel的老闆Stephanie Nadeau已將半數員工裁撤。

The loss of business has brought layoffs to some Maine businesses, such as The Lobster Co., of Arundel, where owner Stephanie Nadeau has laid off half the 14 people she once had working in wholesale.

Nadeau表示：「掌握權都在中美政府，我別無選擇，成了輸家。沒有任何市場可取代中國。」

“They picked winners, and they picked losers, and they picked me a loser,” Nadeau said. “There is no market that’s going to replace China.”

美國聯邦政府的數據顯示，截至六月，美國今年對中國的龍蝦出口少了220萬磅（一百萬公斤）。去年同期的出口量是1200萬磅。另一方面，加拿大今年對中國的龍蝦出口則已經達到3300萬磅，幾乎是2018年全年的出口。

America has exported less than 2.2 million pounds (1 million kilograms) of lobster to China this year through June, according to data from the U.S. federal government. The country exported nearly 12 million pounds during that same period last year. In Canada, exports to China through June were already approaching 33 million pounds, which is nearly as much as all of 2018.

加拿大今年一至六月的出口額將近2億美金(約60億台幣)，直追去年總額2.23億美金(約台幣70億)。美國今年到六月的出口額少於1900萬，比去年同期少了7000萬。

The value of Canada’s exports was nearing $200 million in U.S. dollars through June and was almost sure to outstrip last year’s total of more than $223 million. America’s exports through June were valued at less than $19 million, more than $70 million behind where they were through June 2018.

關稅戰期間美國境內的龍蝦價位震盪不大，且內需穩定。過去十多年來美國對中國的海鮮出口只增不減，例如2010年時美國總共出口了80萬磅的龍蝦到中國，比前一年還多了20倍。然而美國卻在這一年失去了中國龐大市場。

Lobster prices paid by American consumers have remained fairly steady during the trade dispute, and there remain many buyers for U.S. lobster. But the loss of China as an overseas market is happening at the end of a decade in which the U.S. seafood industry has experienced exponential growth in lobster exports to the country. The U.S. exported about 800,000 pounds of lobster to China in 2010 and more than 20 times that last year.

緬因州龍蝦市場協會（Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative）的總監Marianne LaCroix表示，美國龍蝦產業正在尋找新市場以彌補失去中國市場的損失。為了推廣美國龍蝦，LaCroix表示緬因州的龍蝦農Brian Rapp會出席香港的商展並參加九月前往杜拜的貿易訪問團。

The American lobster industry is looking to open up new domestic and international markets to make up for the loss of China, said Marianne LaCroix, who directs the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative. Maine lobsterman Brian Rapp will attend a trade show in Hong Kong and a trade mission to Dubai in September to promote U.S. lobster, she said.

LaCroix說倒：「中國市場實在太大了，所以我們必須找到數個新市場才能取代原本在中國的生意。」

“China is so large that you have to look at a number of new markets to replace that business,” LaCroix said.

加拿大龍蝦理事會（Lobster Council of Canada）執行長Geoff Irvine表示，加拿大的龍蝦市場變大對產業當然有助益，但也為龍蝦業的未來帶來了不確定。

In Canada, the boost to business has helped the industry but also led to uncertainty about its future, said Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada.

他指出，美國與加拿大的龍蝦產業是有重疊的，有些公司在兩邊都有營運，而暢通兩邊的貿易是對產業最有利的。

The American and Canadian lobster industries overlap, with some businesses operating on both sides of the border, and it’s more beneficial to the lobster industry at large for trade to go on unimpeded, he said.

他說道：「未來的不確定性令人擔心。」並指出：「所有人都希望整個龍蝦產業開放且自由。」

“Whenever there’s any kind of uncertainty, it makes people worry,” Irvine said. “Everybody would like to see the entire lobster industry open and free.”

Source article: https://chinapost.nownews.com/20190827-712986