Republican Bill Would Ban Import of Chinese Fish, Shellfish
A bill that would ban the import of seafood of Chinese origin -- which includes fish caught in Alaska but processed in China -- was introduced by Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., and Rick Scott, R-Fla.
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The bill is called Ban China’s Forbidden Operations in the Oceanic Domain (C-Food) Act, and the ban would begin one year after enactment. According to the advocacy group Oceana, the U.S. imported almost $2 billion worth of fish and shellfish from China last year. The ban would continue until the administration tells Congress that Chinese processing plants, fish farms and fishing fleets are not "meaningfully using forced labor," that China isn't subsidizing its fishing fleets beyond international norms, and that it doesn't believe China would use its fishing fleet if it were to invade Taiwan.
The bill also instructs the Treasury Department to sanction companies if they knowingly participate in transshipment of Chinese seafood to the U.S., and asks the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to consider punitive tariffs on goods from the nations involved in transshipment.
“Fishing and Aquaculture is yet another industry the Chinese Communist Party is weaponizing for their own gain through blatant abuse and slave labor. This legislation will stop imports of this illicit seafood by imposing real costs on the Chinese government and the companies that aid them,” Cotton said in a news release Dec. 6.