Exporters of Norwegian Seafood Drop the US and Look Toward the EU and China
Exporters of Norwegian seafood believe that the tariffs in the US have become so unpredictable that they will gradually withdraw from the market. A fishing company in the North Cape is now turning its back on the US, and will instead focus on the EU and China.
Bjørn Ronald Olsen, CEO, Cape Fish AS, takes a closer look at snow crab that has been delivered to the company in Honningsvåg. He goes through today’s snow crab load, which has just been delivered across the quay in Honningsvåg.
“It is a bit hopeless when it comes to buying raw materials and producing it, and then we never know when we will get a new tariff burden. That makes it very difficult and uncertain,” he says.
Olsen is the managing director of Cape Fish AS, which has its headquarters in Honningsvåg in the North Cape. From here, king crab has been exported to the world market for several years.
Last year, the company started exporting snow crab and had a turnover of 65 million kroner. Most of it was delivered to the US.
During the current year, they expect to double production.
“That is why we are forced to find new markets in Europe,” says Olsen.
This snow crab catch was taken from one of the fishing grounds at Svalbard. The snow crab is known as the little brother of the king crab.
Important to Secure Access to the EU
According to Seafood Norway, 1.6 billion kroner worth of snow crab was shipped out of the country last year, with the US alone accounting for 62% of imports.
However, the constant threats from the Trump administration about new tariffs have caused Norwegian exporters to start reacting.
Recently, the managing director of Seafood Norway, Geir Ove Ystmark, made it clear that the situation is untenable and that they are now looking toward other markets with greater stability.
“For the Norwegian seafood industry, it is all the more important that we now secure access to the EU and to Asian markets such as South Korea, Japan and China,” he told Dagsnytt 18 in February.
Ystmark emphasizes that increased focus on EU markets means more competition with other countries.
“Seafood is not part of the EEA agreement, so we have customs duties on imports to the EU. We therefore have a job to do to put in place better trade conditions with countries that we want to cooperate with in the future. And we also need more stability at home.”
Source: NRK (in Norwegian)