Bumble Bee says tariffs will put it at a competitive disadvantage

In written testimony to the US Trade Representative’s office (USTR) US tuna canner Bumble Bee Seafoods told the government the tariff on “tuna loins will have a devastating effect on Bumble Bee given that our business model is to import tuna loins for further processing and canning in the US by American workers.”

The company's comments were submitted Sept. 5 in advance of the Trump administration's decision on imposing trade tariffs on China.

The new tariffs will be effective starting Sept. 24 and initially will be in the amount of 10 percent. Starting Jan. 1, 2019, the level of the additional tariffs will increase to 25 percent.

The list contains 5,745 full or partial lines of the original 6,031 tariff lines that were on a proposed list of Chinese imports announced on July 10.

The tariffs could lead to additional costs that could result in Bumble Bee being forced to close a factory, the company wrote in its letter to the USTR.

The trade action will also lead to higher prices at the consumer level for canned and shelf-stable tuna products.

Any tariff on tuna loins from China will disproportionally affect Bumble Bee, the company said, and will amount to a "Bumble Bee tax, which will give its competitors-especially foreign competitors-an unfair competitive advantage as they will have access to lower-priced inputs.

“Even if Bumble Bee was able to find alternative suppliers, our supply chains cannot be shifted to different countries or facilities without compromising long term contracts, compliance to standards, quality and value for the consumer,” the company wrote in its public comment letter.

The proposed tariffs would also harm US fishermen, the company said.

“Under customs origin rules, China is the country of origin of a whole fish caught on a US-flagged vessel that is processed or loined in China. Thus, US- origin fish loined in China would be subject to the 25 percent tariff under the current proposal.”