NOAA's Blue Economy Initiative: Supporting Commerce in American Oceans and Great Lakes - Commerce Ranking Member Bill Nelson Opening Statement

Statement

In Florida, we don't call it the blue economy: we just call it the economy. Our vast coastline, pristine environment and abundant fisheries are among the pillars of the state's economy. The multi-billion-dollar tourism industry, commercial and recreational fishing and the state's robust marine manufacturing presence are all inextricably linked to the health of our marine environment and, as we're now beginning to see unfold before us, global trade.

That's why when the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster fouled the beaches on the northwestern edge of Florida, it devastated the tourism industry across the entire state.

It's why when Hurricane Irma lashed the middle and upper Florida Keys, people stopped coming to Key West.

It's why decades of diverting fresh water from the Everglades has truly mucked up the estuaries and, as a result, hurt businesses exposed to toxic algae blooms on both the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.

And, it's why this administration's growing trade war threatens an untold number of Floridians whose livelihoods depend on industries whose bottom lines could be hit hard by enormous tariffs.

Just last week, I visited the world's largest sport fishing trade show in Orlando, known as I-CAST. While I heard from many companies with manufacturing success stories, like Power-Pole of Tampa, Engel Coolers of Jupiter, Marine Metal Products and 13 Fishing of Clearwater, Costa Del Mar Sunglasses of Daytona Beach and others, I also heard from folks anxious about the administration's new trade policy and how it might impact their daily lives.

Take, for example, hard-working lobstermen and women. The president's tariffs are causing global demand for lobster to drop, forcing prices down to five or six dollars per pound, from around twelve dollars per pound. This may be welcome news for consumers, but it is damaging for Florida fishermen who rely on global markets to make a living and provide for their families.

And it's not just the lobster industry. Boat manufacturers are among the industries hardest hit by rising tariffs caused by the president's trade war.

During my visit last week to Correct Craft, a manufacturer that employs more than six hundred people in Central Florida, the company's CEO told me that if the trade war continues unabated, they could be forced to lay off hundreds of people. In fact, he said the boating industry as a whole could lose upwards of six-hundred-thousand jobs.

That's staggering and if it happens it won't be just those laid off who will feel the pain. It will eventually trickle down and affect all of us.

The boat manufacturers are getting hit with tariffs as high as twenty-five percent on imported steel and aluminum. Then they get hit again when they try to sell their products abroad due to retaliatory tariffs. The E.U., for example, is imposing a twenty-five percent tariff on American-made boats. Combined, that's a fifty percent tax for consumers.

It's no wonder so many companies are worried they're going to get crushed by the president's trade war.

Make no bones about it, this trade war is bad for the blue economy.

Mr. Chairman, while I'm grateful we're holding this hearing, the elephant in the room is the tariff issue. When it comes to discussing Florida and the blue economy, you can't do it without talking about the trade war and how it could greatly impact folks' livelihoods.

While I wish we could have representatives from the Department of Commerce to talk trade here today, I am grateful to Admiral Gallaudet for his presence before us.

It's my hope the Senate will send a message to the White House that a protracted trade war is bad for business, their employees and our blue economy as a whole.

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