How China’s Coronavirus Outbreak Could Affect Maine’s Economy

Let me hit you with a little known fact before I get into the meat of the story.

China is the world's largest importer of lobsters, according to the Ellsworth American. No other country on earth consumes more of those tantalizing shellfish, from eating them whole, to straight up to broths and seafood dishes that taste oh so sinfully good.

Now that we have established that, I can tell you that with this whole coronavirus pandemic, the demand has gone down considerably.

This is affecting markets in New Zealand, Canada, and the US (Maine), the newspaper states. It noted that China used to get a bulk of its imports from the US; however, after last year's trade war and the imposed tariffs, Canada and New Zealand took over.

Now with the demand in China falling due to a drop in tourism and people eating out, Canadian suppliers are merely selling the overstock to distributors in the US at a lower price and not having to pay the fees that come with flying cargo, which affects anyone you know whose a Lobsterman, according to The Globe and Mail.

This crisis affects anyone who even sells lobster for that matter, which at some point in the next few months, affects our local economy.

That's deep. This state of flux is what your High School teacher called the Domino affect.

What do you do with this information? Buy local, make sure you support our local lobster venders when you can.

After all, no one else is going to support Mainers, more than Mainers.