Norwegian salmon producers saw their shares fall 3% during Monday (Feb. 3) morning trading as investors worried that US 25% tariffs set to be imposed on Canadian seafood imports could be extended to European products, potentially threatening a market that has grown to $1.55 billion annually.

The sell-off reflects growing anxiety in Europe's seafood sector that US president Trump's protectionist measures could expand beyond North America, despite European producers potentially standing to gain in the short term from reduced Canadian competition in the US market. 

"The market is telling us they're afraid tariffs will hit EU imports as well," Sander Lie, analyst at Pareto Securities, told Undercurrent News. "Even Faroe Islands-based Bakkafrost shares are down, given their high US exposure."

Trade data shows a dramatic transformation of the US salmon import market over the past decade. Norwegian supply to the US has nearly tripled since 2014 to reach $880.7 million in 2023, while imports from the EU have shown even stronger growth -- surging more than five-fold to $668.3m in the same period [...]