tariffs

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

Maine agriculture officials are asking the federal government to help out wild blueberry growers as they deal with the effects of rising trade disputes with foreign countries.

With trade tensions escalating between the United States and China and a growing economic toll on Maine businesses — particularly lobster dealers — Gov. Janet Mills is emphasizing international trade as a vital part of the state's future.

Maine independent U.S. Sen. Angus King had some harsh words for President Trump this morning.  King said on CNN that Trump's rhetoric going into the NATO summit played into the political machinations of Russia's leader Vladimir Putin and could weaken Western alliances.

"He [Putin] views the Western alliance as a threat and he wants to see it undermined," King said. "That's their strategy and that's why they got involved in European politics, they got involved in our politics. This is what they want to do and I'm afraid that we're playing into Putin's hands."

Some Maine lobster dealers who have seen sales to China shoot up over the last decade are now suddenly shut out.

Maine’s U.S. congressional delegation is working to ensure that U.S. trade representatives will protect the Maine lobster industry from future tariff wars.

Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King, and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Bruce Poliquin are meeting with trade representatives Friday in Portland to discuss the European Union’s recent tariff break for importing Canadian lobster.