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VANCOUVER — Diversification has become a mantra for Canadian exporters in the new age of tariffs, but for harvesters of British Columbia’s geoduck clams, that’s a high hurdle, said BC Seafood Alliance executive director Christina Burridge.
She said China buys 95 per cent of exports of the massive, meaty molluscs, which can weigh a couple of kilograms, and the prospect of Beijing imposing 25 per cent tariffs on them from Thursday has harvesters in a state of shock.
“Dismay, for sure,” Burridge said, summarizing the mood. “Fear.”
Burridge estimated the annual value of Canadian geoduck exports to China at about $75 million, all from B.C., and she said swiftly finding an alternative to the Chinese market would be virtually impossible.
“It is going to be really, really difficult,” she said, adding the geoduck fleets in B.C. have already stopped harvesting in anticipation of lower demand in China, as the clams are only sold live and must be rushed to market within two days of harvest.
China is imposing tariffs ranging from 25 per cent to 100 per cent on a number of Canadian products, including a 25 per cent levy on seafood. The measures are in response to Canada’s decision to impose a 100 per cent tax on Chinese electric vehicles and levies on steel and aluminum.
Burridge said it was unclear if the tariffs would also apply in Chinese-administered Hong Kong and Macau, two markets that buy much of the remaining five per cent of geoduck exports not bound for mainland China.
In the meantime, she said local and domestic restaurants would benefit from lower geoduck prices, but this did not resolve the issue for clam farmers looking to recoup revenue lost in China.
She said the industry hoped other export markets such as Japan might eventually be developed.
The clams that can live for more than 100 years are typically harvested in B.C. by divers. The meat that protrudes far from the clam shells can be served in hot pots, soups, stir-fried or raw as sashimi.
Nico Prins, executive director of the BC Shellfish Growers Association, said geoduck harvesters have already tried to diversify with promotional efforts in places such as Singapore and Spain.
A weaker Chinese economy had made things tough for harvesters even before the tariffs. But Prins said developing new markets takes time – something not on the side of B.C. harvesters.
“The farmers, at least they can sit on their stocks so they can wait, and they’ve got a bit of flexibility there. But obviously you don’t know…for how long it would be. So cashflow becomes a bit of a constraint.
“I would classify it as being devastating to the B.C. geoduck culture market specifically, and it’s a gut punch during an already tough season for them.”
Some may eventually decide to restart the harvest if they deem the reduced profit margins acceptable, Burridge said.
“I think people will have to decide whether it’s worth going fishing for some money rather than not go fishing at all for no money. And that’s going to take people a little bit of time to work out.”
The biggest competitor for B.C. geoduck is the United States, with Washington state exporting the clams.
Despite the United States also having tariffs against Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminum, Beijing has not placed levies against American exports of geoduck — something that irked Burridge.
“It’s a little mysterious at the moment,” she said. “I would like to think that Canada might consider rethinking those tariffs (on Chinese EVs), given that we can’t fight a trade war on two fronts without really, really losing.”
Burridge said other B.C. seafood such as Dungeness crab will also be hit hard by the Chinese tariffs, but there is more demand for such products beyond just China.
She said the added costs of tariffs would almost certainly have to be carried by harvesters and others in the supply chain, since the industry has been told that Chinese consumers will not accept a 25-per-cent price increase and will stop buying geoducks if the cost is passed on.
In short, the industry needs help, Burridge said.
“(Government) could take on the costs of monitoring the fishery and the science for the fishery, all of which industry currently pays for, as a short-term measure to help us get through this,” she said. “It could take another look at those EV tariffs.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2025.
Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press
