US Bans Imports of Forced Labor Seafood from Chinese Fleets... Strengthening Pressure Following Xinjiang Cotton Ban

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The Joe Biden administration has imposed a complete ban on the import of seafood caught by an entire Chinese fleet due to forced labor concerns.

The United States expanded pressure just two days after the first phone call on the 26th between trade officials from both countries: Katherine Tai, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), and Liu He, Vice Premier of China.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on the 28th (local time) that it will ban imports of seafood caught by the entire fleet of Dalian Ocean Fishing in China.

CBP pointed out that many Indonesian workers on the fleet's fishing vessels are subjected to forced labor.

Dalian Ocean Fishing is a company suspected by South Korea's Korea Federation for Environmental Movements and others in May last year of neglecting the treatment of Indonesian crew members and immediately disposing of them when they died.

Seafood caught by these fleets, such as tuna and swordfish, as well as products containing seafood from this company, including canned tuna and pet food, will be subject to a Withhold Release Order (WRO) as soon as they arrive in the United States.

Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of the Department of Homeland Security stated that this is the first time CBP has banned imports from an entire fleet, rather than targeting individual vessels as before.

The United States recently banned imports of cotton from the Xinjiang region, also citing forced labor issues as the reason.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.