G-7 calls for immediate repeal of bans on Japanese food amid China curbs

 

The Group of Seven (G-7) industrial powers called on Sunday for the "immediate repeal" of import curbs on Japanese food products, a reference to China's restrictions after Japan began releasing wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The G-7 trade ministers, in a statement after a weekend meeting in Osaka, did not mention China, but they also denounced what they consider its rising economic coercion through trade.

"We deplore actions to weaponise economic dependencies and commit to build on free, fair, and mutually beneficial economic and trade relationships," said the 10-page statement.

China slapped a blanket suspension of Japanese fish imports two months ago when Japan started the release of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima plant into the Pacific Ocean. While Japan and the United States have called the curbs unfair, Russia announced a similar restriction earlier in October.

China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the G-7 statement outside business hours.

The G-7 - the US, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada - also expressed "concern" over recent control measures on the export of critical minerals.

China, the world's top graphite producer, in October announced export curbs on some graphite products in another bid to control critical mineral supply in response to challenges over its global manufacturing dominance.

The G-7 ministers "shared the need, a genuinely strong one, to reduce dependence on a particular country" for the supply of critical resources, said Mr Yasutoshi Nishimura, trade minister of the host nation Japan.

"We completely agreed to build resilient and reliable supply chains" for critical minerals, semiconductors and batteries, he told a press conference.
The ministers reaffirmed their concerns on "a wide and evolving range of non-market policies" that include "pervasive, opaque and trade-distortive industrial subsidies" and forced technology transfer.

On Russia, the G-7 officials condemned its destruction of Ukrainian grain export infrastructure in its invasion of the country, and Moscow's decision to "unilaterally" leave talks on an agreement that had allowed grain giant Ukraine to export wheat and other products through the Black Sea.

Unlike the G-7 finance ministers' meeting two weeks ago, which condemned "terror attacks" on Israel by Hamas, the trade ministers did not mention the Middle East crisis, saying only that they "seek to raise awareness about the challenges of moving humanitarian goods across international borders during natural disasters and other emergencies".

Western countries have generally backed what they say is Israel's right to self-defence, but there has been mounting international concern over the toll from Israel's bombing of Gaza and growing calls for a pause to allow aid to reach Palestinian civilians in the territory.

>>Agency