China Lifts a Nearly 2-Year Ban on Seafood From Japan Over Fukushima Wastewater
A notice from the customs agency said the ban had been lifted Sunday and that imports from most of Japan would be resumed. The ban, imposed in August 2023, was a major blow to Japan's fisheries industry. China was the biggest overseas market for Japanese seafood, accounting for more than one-fifth of its exports. The nuclear plant at Fukushima was heavily damaged by a deadly tsunami that followed a huge offshore earthquake in 2011. Water still must be pumped in to cool the radioactive fuel. The water is then stored in what was an ever-growing complex of tanks on the property. After years of debate, the utility won government permission to discharge the water gradually into the sea after treating it to remove most of the radioactive elements.
Japanese officials said the wastewater would be safer than international standards and have negligible environmental impact. China disagreed and imposed a ban, saying the discharge would endanger the fishing industry and coastal communities on its east coast. The ban will remain in place for seafood from 10 of Japan's 47 prefectures, including Fukushima and nearby ones. Japanese seafood exporters will have to reapply for registration in China, and all imports will have to include a health certificate, a certificate of compliance for radioactive substance testing, and a certificate of origin, the Chinese customs agency said.
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Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
US, China to resume talks on tariff truce extension ahead of Trump-Xi meeting
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The bloc will also buy $750 billion worth of American energy and make $600 billion worth of US investments in coming years. No similar breakthrough is expected in the US-China talks but trade analysts said that another 90-day extension of a tariff and export control truce struck in mid-May was likely. An extension of that length would prevent further escalation and facilitate planning for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late October or early November. A US Treasury spokesperson declined comment on a South China Morning Post report quoting unnamed sources as saying the two sides would refrain from introducing new tariffs or other steps that could escalate the trade war for another 90 days. Trump's administration is poised to impose new sectoral tariffs that will impact China within weeks, including on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, ship-to-shore cranes and other products. 'We're very close to a deal with China. We really sort of made a deal with China, but we'll see how that goes,' Trump told reporters on Sunday before European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck their tariff deal. The Financial Times reported on Monday that the US had paused curbs on tech exports to China to avoid disrupting trade talks with Beijing and support Trump's efforts to secure a meeting with Xi this year. The industry and security bureau of the Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, had been told to avoid tough moves on China, the newspaper said, citing current and former officials. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House and the department did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside business hours. Deeper issues Previous US-China trade talks in Geneva and London in May and June focused on bringing US and Chinese retaliatory tariffs down from triple-digit levels and restoring the flow of rare earth minerals halted by China and Nvidia's H20 AI chips and other goods halted by the United States. So far, the talks have not delved into broader economic issues. They include US complaints that China's state-led, export-driven model is flooding world markets with cheap goods, and Beijing's complaints that US national security export controls on tech goods seek to stunt Chinese growth. 'Geneva and London were really just about trying to get the relationship back on track so that they could, at some point, actually negotiate about the issues which animate the disagreement between the countries in the first place,' said Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. 'I'd be surprised if there is an early harvest on some of these things but an extension of the ceasefire for another 90 days seems to be the most likely outcome,' Kennedy said. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already flagged a deadline extension and has said he wants China to rebalance its economy away from exports to more domestic consumption -- a decades-long goal for US policymakers. Analysts say the US-China negotiations are far more complex than those with other Asian countries and will require more time. China's grip on the global market for rare earth minerals and magnets, used in everything from military hardware to car windshield wiper motors, has proved to be an effective leverage point on US industries. Trump-Xi meeting? In the background of the talks is speculation about a possible meeting between Trump and Xi in late October. Trump has said he will decide soon on a landmark trip to China, and a new flare-up of tariffs and export controls would likely derail planning. Sun Chenghao, a fellow at Tsinghua University's Center for International Security and Strategy in Beijing, said that a Trump-Xi summit would be an opportunity for the US to lower the 20 percent tariffs on Chinese goods related to fentanyl. In exchange, he said the Chinese side could make good on its 2020 pledge to increase purchases of US farm products and other goods. 'The future prospect of the heads of state summit is very beneficial to the negotiations because everyone wants to reach an agreement or pave the way in advance,' Sun said. Still, China will likely request a reduction of multi-layered US tariffs totaling 55 percent on most goods and further easing of US high-tech export controls, analysts said. Beijing has argued that such purchases would help reduce the US trade deficit with China, which reached $295.5 billion in 2024.
Arab News
3 hours ago
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China's birthplace of kung fu rocked by embezzlement probe
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Arab News
11 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan, China discuss progress of CPEC projects, connectivity with Central Asia
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