Local employees pack the fish sample in a cooler for an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expert team with scientists from China, South Korea and Canada at the port of Hisanohama, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023 in Iwaki, northeastern Japan. Eugene Hoshiko/Pool acquire license rights via Portal/File Photo
TOKYO, Oct 29 (Portal) – Group of Seven (G7) industrial powers called on Sunday for the “immediate lifting” of restrictions on imports of Japanese food, a reference to China’s restrictions after Japan began discharging wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant had begun.
G7 trade ministers made no mention of China in a statement after a weekend meeting in Osaka, but also denounced its increasing economic pressure from trade.
“We deplore actions that weaponize economic dependencies and are committed to building free, fair and mutually beneficial economic and trade relations,” the ten-page statement said.
China imposed a blanket ban on Japanese fish imports two months ago when Japan began discharging treated radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima plant into the Pacific. While Japan and the US called the restrictions unfair, Russia announced a similar restriction earlier this month.
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the G7 statement outside business hours.
The G7 – the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada – expressed “concern” about recent control measures on the export of critical minerals.
China, the world’s largest graphite producer, this month announced export restrictions on the key material used in electric vehicle batteries. This is another attempt to control the supply of critical minerals in response to challenges to its global dominance in production.
The G7 ministers shared “a really strong need to reduce dependence on a particular country for the supply of critical resources,” said Yasutoshi Nishimura, trade minister of host country Japan. “We were in complete agreement on building resilient and reliable supply chains for critical minerals, semiconductors and batteries,” he told a news conference.
Ministers reiterated their concerns about “a wide and evolving range of non-market policies”, which include “pervasive, opaque and trade-distorting industrial subsidies” and forced technology transfer, the statement said.
On Russia, G7 officials condemned the invasion of the country’s destruction of Ukraine’s grain export infrastructure, as well as Moscow’s decision to “unilaterally” break off talks on a deal that would allow grain giant Ukraine to export wheat and other products across the Black Sea had.
Unlike the G7 finance ministers’ meeting two weeks ago, which condemned Hamas “terrorist attacks” on Israel, trade ministers made no mention of the Middle East crisis, saying only that they want to “raise awareness of the challenges in transporting humanitarian goods.” international borders in the event of natural disasters and other emergencies”.
Western countries generally support Israel’s supposed right to self-defense, but international concern over the consequences of Israeli bombing is growing and calls for a pause so aid can reach Palestinian civilians in Gaza are growing louder.
Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Additional reporting by Liz Lee in Beijing; Edited by William Mallard
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