The ITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding agency, recently released the report as part of an ongoing series of reports on thousands of products imported into and exported from the United States. As a share of total value of production, U.S. exports of canned fish declined from 24 percent in 1992 to 17 percent in 1996. Salmon is the principal product exported, accounting for 71 percent of the total. As a share of consumption, imports ranged from 29 percent to 35 percent during 1992- 96. Sardines accounted for an additional 10 percent of total imports.
Resource constraints are a growing problem for the U.S. industry.
Depletion of fishery resources in U.S. waters and around the world causes scarcity in supplies of raw material and drives up costs and prices of canned output. An example is Pacific salmon, whose abundance has been reduced not only by fishing but by dams and industrial development that interfere with spawning patterns. Another resource constraint is the reduced availability of raw albacore and tropical tunas following the imposition in the early 1990s of U.S. and UN restrictions on the use of harvesting methods that harm dolphins and other marine mammals. Customs treatment of canned fish in international trade was enhanced by the Uruguay Round Agreements negotiated under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. These agreements resulted in improved mechanisms for ensuring that product safety regulations and other measures are not used by importing nations as trade barriers to U.S. canned fish exports, and they resulted in the binding of tariffs against future increase, thereby reducing uncertainty for U.S. exporters in international markets.