Hearing on tariffs, lobster industry will wait 'til September
Responding to charges that tariffs and trade wars are having damaging effects on the local lobster industry, a Beacon Hill committee has agreed to host a field hearing in Gloucester, but will wait until September to hear from local voices.
Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante of Gloucester, co-chair of the Legislature's Economic Development Committee, said in a June 24 letter that the state's lobstering industry "has become collateral damage in the Trump Administration's trade war with China." U.S. lobster exports to China have decreased by 70 percent and Canadian exports to China have increased 50 percent, she said, noting two companies with 250 employees have closed in her district.
In response, the Joint Committee on Export Development on July 1 agreed to hold an oversight hearing in Gloucester, with co-chair Rep. Lori Ehrlich noting that steel tariffs have added to the costs of lobster traps, the price of lobster in western Massachusetts has already risen, and "in eastern Massachusetts, everyone from lobstermen and wholesalers to restaurants and consumers are feeling the pain."
"The Massachusetts lobster industry's global competitiveness is being put at risk and our neighbors to the north, Canada, and competitors in the European Union are establishing supply lines that may never return to Massachusetts," Ehrlich said in a July 1 statement. "This has a real impact on jobs, local economies, and the state's overall economy."
Asked about waiting until September to hold the hearing, given the urgency public officials are attaching to the situation, an Ehrlich aide said that it was "a scheduling thing for all the folks involved." The date, time and location of the hearing have not been announced yet.
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