SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- A seafood marketing group in the northwest U.S. state of Alaska is drafting a letter of complaint to U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to protest its plan for steep tariffs on Chinese imports including seafood, an Alaska daily reported Thursday.
The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) decides to submit the draft letter to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) about the importance of Alaska seafood, said an online report of the Alaska daily Juneau Empire.
ASMI Executive Director Alexa Tonkovich told a board meeting earlier in the day that the letter of complaint will be made ready by the end of this week or early next week before it is presented to federal trade officials early next month.
She noted that she wants to have ASMI's voice heard by the USTR. "If you're putting a tariff on seafood, you're not just hurting China," she said.
The ASMI is a marketing organization representing fishermen and the fishing industry in Alaska.
An earlier report of the Wall Street Journal said seafood caught in Alaska represents 60 percent of all seafood caught in the United States.
More than half of the fish caught in Alaska are destined for processing plants before they are frozen and shipped to China. Then the fish are processed into fish sticks, salmon patties and other products in China, which will be re-frozen and exported back to the United States.
The trade spat between the two countries will subject the Alaska seafood products to high tariffs imposed by the United States and China's retaliation in response.
