One small business navigates Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods

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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 and video were provided by The Associated Press.

Script

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[Bryan Szeliga arriving at his shop]

[Szeliga standing behind the oyster counter]

[Sign on the wall]

Bryan Szeliga (interview): “Tariffs placed on Canada and Mexico will definitely impact our business. One, we do buy direct products from importers and processors in those countries. So we buy our shrimp, a fair amount of our shrimp does come from Mexico. And we also bring in a whole lot of oysters from Canada. Those are products that will definitely affect us.”

[Customer looking at products]

[A bag of shrimp from Mexico]

[Oysters from Canada]

Bryan Szeliga (interview): “Also, because of the way seafood is interconnected and supply demand, we are seeing products that aren’t even from Canada. We’re seeing prices raised. So domestic oysters from New England, those prices are already raising well over 10% as well.”

[Fishtown Seafood in Philadelphia]

[Customer ordering oysters]

Josh Withka (interview): “It’s just going to make things more expensive like for consumers and for small businesses. Like, if, you know, if the goal is to get more production in the United States, it’s just like if you don’t have, like, the infrastructure and things in place for that to happen immediately, like if this is just going to hurt people.”

[Staff placing a tray of oysters inside a refrigerator]

Bryan Szeliga (interview): “Right now is really difficult as a business owner for several reasons. One, I’m a smaller business and I’m not really staffed and equipped and knowledgeable enough to know how to navigate tariffs.”

[Staff washing oysters]

Bryan Szeliga (interview): “Being able to have a stable business and eliminate uncertainty is extremely important for for businesses. And not knowing – will these tariffs remain in place for a long time? Will they decrease? Will it work? Will they be applied to other countries and other products? – is a challenge.”

[Oysters]

This script was provided by The Associated Press.

The related lesson for this video will be published next Wednesday.