While the 25 percent trade tariff the United States is threatening to slap on Chinese tilapia imports would be a blow to companies on both sides of the Pacific, curbing the trade flow is not quite as simple as the Trump administration would like to think, an exec with China's largest tilapia producer told IntraFish.

"You can't just flick a switch," said Baiyang Assistant Chief Marketing Officer Jason Carter.

"China owns a huge amount of the [US] frozen market," said Carter.