US Salmon Tariff Exemption Lifts ISLAX and BKFKY North America Share

Two Atlantic salmon farmers whose fish come from origins left out of the new US Section 301 tariffs — Icelandic Salmon AS (ISLAX) and Bakkafrost (BKFKY) — disclosed in late August 2026 that North America now takes a much larger share of their sales, at 16% and 31% respectively, while neither raised its full-year harvest guidance [1][2].

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Origin, not farming cost, now sets the landed price of US salmon

Atlantic salmon is a commodity grown in sea pens. A fish spends 18 to 24 months in the water between smolt release and harvest, so how much a farmer can sell this year is fixed by the biomass licences the regulator issues and by how many smolts went in two years ago. The United States farms almost no Atlantic salmon of its own; it imports fresh fish, and the large grades above six kilos travel by air.

In July 2026 the US opened a Section 301 action on forced-labour grounds and applied additional duties by country of origin. Norway and Chile carry 12.5%, the UK and the EU sit at a total 10% level, and Iceland and the Faroe Islands were not among the economies investigated, so they pay nothing [3][4]. Iceland's own rate went from 15% to 0% on 4 July [1]. Farming cost, fish size and biology did not change; what changed is the duty inside each kilo of landed cost. The taxed side is already retreating: Norwegian seafood exports to the US fell to NOK 6.3bn in the first half of 2026, down 28% year on year [3].

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What the two exempt producers disclosed, and what they held flat

Icelandic Salmon reported that North America went from 10% of its volume in the first quarter to 16% in the second, a quarter in which Iceland was still paying 15%. After the rate went to zero on 4 July, management said it saw an immediate effect on price achievement in that market, and the company has changed which days it harvests and added flight-packing capacity to serve the demand [1]. Full-year guidance stayed at 21,300 tonnes, and growth capex is frozen until Iceland's new aquaculture law is settled [1].

Bakkafrost reported that the North American share of its Faroese salmon sales rose to 31%, which management called probably the highest ever, while Western Europe fell from 52% to 47% [2]. Group guidance held at 117,000 tonnes, split 97,000 Faroese and 20,000 Scottish [2]. The CEO declined to attribute the shift to the tariff, saying the company has long pushed US sales because the US is where it has its best branding and best margins [2]. In the same quarter, operational EBIT per kilo in its Sales & Other segment fell from 6.55 to 5.60, which the company attributed to higher global availability of large superior-quality salmon pressing on prices and premiums [2].

A third company's accounts put a number on the duty gap. On its 18 August 2026 call, Mowi reported EUR 0.34 per kilo of operational profit in Chile on a record 17,000-tonne quarter, naming tariffs on its Chilean salmon into the US among the causes, against EUR 2.05 per kilo in Canada, where "no tariffs" was listed as a reason for better price achievement [5].

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Exempt volume is fixed, so the shortfall clears as a higher US price

The exempt side cannot add supply. The two companies' full-year guidance together is roughly 118,000 tonnes, while Chile alone accounts for more than 70% of US fresh salmon fillet imports and Norway is pulling back [6][3]. What the exempt origins collect is mostly a higher realised price per kilo and a position in the premium channel rather than a large jump in volume, and the part of the gap they cannot fill has to clear through the price the US buyer pays.

Several boundaries sit around that reading. The rates are a negotiable policy position: the additional duty on Indian goods was cut from 12.5% to 10% in late July [7], and Chile and the US began talks in Santiago on 24 August [8]. Bakkafrost itself has 20,000 tonnes of Scottish-origin volume in the 10% band, and on 31 July it sent the first tariff-free shipment of Scottish salmon to India rather than the US [9]. What can be checked later is whether the two companies' third-quarter North America shares and realised prices per kilo keep rising while their harvest guidance stays where it is.

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Companies exposed to the same change

• SalMar (SALRF): One of Norway's largest salmon farmers and the owner of 51% of Icelandic Salmon, so it holds part of the exempt book; but that is only about 6% of its 350,000-tonne 2026 guidance, against roughly 90% farmed in Norway at 12.5%, which points the same rule in the opposite direction for the group.
• CAVA Group (CAVA): A US fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant chain that launched a salmon dish nationally for the first time in its fiscal second quarter of 2026; almost all US salmon is imported and its two largest origins now pay 12.5%, which puts the chain at the end of this cost chain.
• Atlantic Sapphire (AASZF): The only listed company farming Atlantic salmon on land inside the United States, with a 2025 harvest of 5,096 tonnes; its fish never crosses an import line, and it sells into the same US premium fresh channel that is being repriced.

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Sources

[1] Drillr · Icelandic Salmon AS (ISLAX) · 2026-08-25 · FY2026 Q2 results presentation

"The 4th of July we got a pleasant surprise when the tariffs to the US market was set to 0% This gives us a significant benefit compared to for example Norway and UK into that market and we see an immediate effect of this on our price achievement in that market We are now adapting our production to benefit from a stronger US demand. This means we are adjusting what days we are harvesting and have increased the capacity for flight packing and more deliveries both to North America and also China."

[2] Drillr · Bakkafrost (BKFKY) · 2026-08-31 · FY2026 Q2 earnings call

[3] NordiskPost · Norway's salmon exporters face a higher USA tariff · 2026-07-29 · industry report · https://www.nordiskpost.com/2026/07/29/usa-seafood-tariffs-iceland-faroe-islands-norway/

[4] SalmonBusiness · Trade: new US tariffs reshapes competition between Atlantic salmon suppliers · 2026-07-24 · industry report · https://www.salmonbusiness.com/trade-new-us-tariffs-reshapes-competition-between-atlantic-salmon-suppliers/

[5] Drillr · Mowi (MHGVY) · 2026-08-18 · FY2026 Q2 earnings call

[6] Expana · US Fresh Salmon Imports: Chile Controls 70% as Norwegian Supply Falls 35% · 2026-06-16 · industry report · https://www.expanamarkets.com/insights/article/us-fresh-salmon-imports-chile-controls-70-as-norwegian-supply-falls-35/

[7] Trak.in · US reduces the additional tariff on Indian imports from 12.5% to 10% · 2026-07-26 · news report · https://trak.in/stories/45-indian-exports-get-relief-as-us-reduces-tariff-to-10/

[8] Rio Times · Chile and the US hold a first session of tariff talks · 2026-08-24 · news report · https://www.riotimesonline.com/chile-us-tariff-talks-first-session-2026/

[9] Economic Times · First tariff-free Scottish salmon shipment arrives in Bengaluru under UK-India CETA · 2026-07-31 · news report · https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/first-tariff-free-scottish-salmon-shipment-arrives-in-bengaluru-under-uk-india-ceta/articleshow/132774641.cms

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