By Kentaro Sugiyama and Yoshifumi Takemoto
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan will revoke Russia’s most-favoured nation trade status as part of further sanctions against Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine, two people with direct knowledge with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
The government is set to announce the decision on Wednesday, public broadcaster NHK reported. The Group of Seven (G7) nations, which includes Japan, had said on Friday they would seek the move.
With the revocation of the most-favoured status, Japan would raise tariffs for certain seafood products such as sea urchins and crab imported from Russia by passing legislation during the current session of parliament, the Mainichi newspaper reported.
In 2021, Russia accounted for 81% of sea urchins and 47.6% of crab imported by Japan, according to government data.
Japan has already slapped sanctions on Russia-bound exports of chips and high-tech equipment, as well on dozens of Russian and Belarusian officials, business executives and banks by freezing their assets.
(Reporting by Kentaro Sugiyama and Yoshifumi Takemoto, Additional reporting by Kantaro Komiya and David Dolan; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Lincoln Feast)