December 26, 2023 — President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order enabling the closure of a sanctions loophole that has allowed the U.S. importation of large quantities of Russian-caught pollock, cod, salmon and crab processed in China.
The action has been sought by North Pacific seafood industry officials — and their congressional allies — who say that Chinese-processed Russian seafood has contributed to soft U.S. markets and lower prices paid to Alaska fishermen.
The crackdown on the seafood imports is part of a broader effort by the Biden administration to add bite to the U.S. sanctions rolled out in a March 2022 executive order responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The initial seafood sanction banned the imports of Russian seafood exported directly to the United States, but allowed those products to move freely to American consumers if they were first processed in another country.
Biden’s Friday action expands U.S. ability to sanction financial institutions, and also includes language that will enable tougher sanctions on Russian seafood and diamonds even if “substantially transformed” in another country.