Brazil's fish industry hit with a 50pc US tariff

SAO PAULO, Aug 7 (Reuters): Brazil's seafood industry is sounding the alarm to pressure the federal government for immediate relief as it grapples with mounting fears of job losses and bankruptcies as a result of the 50 per cent tariffs the US imposed on most Brazilian exports on Wednesday.
The new levies made the future highly uncertain for Brazilian fishing companies, which sell close to $400 million worth of seafood to the US a year, or about 70 per cent of the sector's annual exports.
"This situation renders our business unviable," said Arimar França Filho, the head of a fishing union in Brazil's northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte. "While the domestic market can absorb some of our production, it cannot take it all, and we cannot have all our boats fishing solely for Brazil.
"The fish industry is calling for an emergency credit line of 900 million reais ($165 million) to navigate the new economic climate. It is also pushing the government to deepen negotiations aimed at reopening the European market, which has been closed to Brazilian fish exports since 2017.
Even as producers scrambled to get their goods to the US ahead of the tariffs that hit on Wednesday, some fishing boats had already been sidelined to prevent excess production, the union leader said.