U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Perdue announced on Wednesday, September 9th, 2020 that commercial fishers will be eligible for a part of $530 million made available due to retaliatory tariffs from foreign governments reacting to the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration in June of 2018. The $530 million will be funded by the Commodity Credit Corporation and distributed by the USDA are the result of a June 24th Presidential Memorandum, saying:
The Secretary of Agriculture shall… consider taking appropriate action, to the extent permitted by applicable law, to provide assistance to fishermen and producers in the United States lobster industry that continue to be harmed by China’s retaliatory tariffs.
President Donald Trump
While the Presidential Memorandum specifies the lobster industry, it also gave Secretary Perdue the authority to expand its scope to include other affected fishing industries. These include, but are not limited to:
- Crab (Dungeness, King, Snow, & Tanner)
- Pacific Cod
- Sablefish, &
- Salmon
Each seafood industry will be eligible for a different rate per pound, based on the calculated affect of the retaliatory tariffs as determined in the Notice of Funds Availability (Draft until 9/14/2020). Applicants should use 2019’s figures when determining their landings in pounds.
The application will be available at the USDA’s farmers.gov website on 9/14/2020. All applications should be turned in to your local USDA Service Center. Applications will be accepted until the earlier of December 14, 2020 or funds are depleted.