The United States Embassy in Japan if providing proactive support for seafood exports by Japanese fishermen. This comes follows China’s comprehensive ban on the import of Japanese seafood products. Beijing imposed the ban after the release of treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station into the sea.
A high portion of Japan’s high-export value scallops are processed in China before being re-exported to the US, which helps explain the US interest in serving as an intermediary.
Because of China’s recent total ban on imports, however, this route has become unavailable, which has raised concerns about reduced incomes for Japanese fishermen.