The U.S. government may slap import curbs on marine products from Japan unless Tokyo amends its expanded whale catch program, U.S. government officials said Monday.
National Security Council spokesman P.J. Crowley suggested that Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta may recommend punitive measures, including an import curb, under a law empowering the secretary to propose such sanctions to the U.S. president.
If Washington slaps sanctions on Japan, sales of Japanese-grown pearls and processed marine food products could suffer, analysts said.
Last Saturday, four whaling ships, part of a six-vessel fleet, left Japanese ports on a whale-hunting trip in the Northwestern Pacific. Their goal is to catch up to 160 whales in a two-month period through late September.