Listening
Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
- suspend / səˈspɛnd / (v.) – to officially stop or delay something from happening
Example:The government suspended its policy on climate change to gather more opinions.
- whiplash / ˈʰwɪpˌlæʃ / (n.) – a neck injury caused by a sudden forward and backward movement of the head
Example:The roller coaster’s sudden stop made him dizzy and gave him a mild case of whiplash.
- flip-flop / ˈflɪpˌflɒp / (v.) – to suddenly change one’s plan or opinion about something
Example:The senator is constantly flip-flopping on important issues, making the voters lose trust in him.
- reprieve / rɪˈpriv / (n.) – a pause or a delay that prevents a negative event from occurring
Example:The sudden rain gave everyone a reprieve from the extreme summer heat.
- inventory / ˈɪn vənˌtɔr i / (n.) – a complete list of items, especially goods in a store or business that is for sale at a certain time
Example:The store manager checked the inventory to make sure they had enough items for the weekend sale.
Article
Read the text below.
At Fishtown Seafood, owner Bryan Szeliga is trying to navigate Trump’s on-again, and off-again tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods.
Szeliga, who operates three retail and wholesale locations in Philadelphia and Haddonfield, New Jersey, sells a range of seafood. He said a fair amount of shrimp comes from Mexico and briny, slurpable oysters are the biggest part of his overall business, with 60% to 70% coming from Canada.
The Trump administration’s on-again, off-again 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico—which went into effect on March 4, only to be suspended on some items for a month on March 6—are giving Szeliga whiplash. The flip-flopping is making it tough to plan ahead. And if the tariffs do eventually go into effect, he’ll likely need to raise the prices of products and offer his customers fewer choices of oysters.
Szeliga started Fishtown Seafood four years ago after other jobs in the food industry, including as a chef and working for a nonprofit. His customers include neighborhood locals and others who shop at his retail shops, as well as restaurant wholesale clients.
On March 4, most of his suppliers told Szeliga they’d be raising prices. He made only one purchase while the tariff was in effect, buying some “sweet petite” oysters from Prince Edward Island to make sure a wholesale client had enough product. He paid the whole 25% markup himself and didn’t pass it along to his client, eating the extra cost. The suppliers’ price increases are likely to come down now that the tariffs are postponed, but only for a month.
Now that he has a month’s reprieve, Szeliga said he plans to adjust his own inventory and work with his wholesale clients to plan out a menu that will be less affected by the tariffs. That might mean replacing higher-priced, higher-quality oysters with domestic or lower-priced Canadian offerings.
The total value of U.S. imported seafood in 2023 was $25.5 billion. Canada, as the largest supplier, delivered more than $3.6 billion in seafood products to the United States in 2023, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
This article was provided by The Associated Press.
Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.
Discussion A
- Szeliga chose to pay the extra tariff costs himself instead of increasing prices for his customers. What do you think of Szeliga’s business decision? Do you think businesses should always pass extra costs on to customers, or should they sometimes cover these costs themselves? Why? Discuss.
- If you were a business owner and your costs suddenly increased, would you have done the same thing as Szeliga? Why or why not? Discuss.
Discussion B
- There have been frequent changes in government policies recently, such as the on-again and off-again tariffs in the U.S. How do you think these frequent policy changes affect the public, businesses, and the economy? Discuss.
- In your opinion, how can the on-again and off-again tariff policies in the U.S. affect its relationships with other countries? How does this impact the overall image of the United States abroad? Discuss.
