WASHINGTON The United States on Sunday publicly threatened to impose trade sanctions against Japan if it continued with its so-called "scientific whaling," under which hundreds of the mammals are killed each year.
"Shortly, I will have to decide whether to ask the president to consider imposing trade measures against Japan," U.S. Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta wrote in the Washington Post newspaper.
The secretary said possible "trade measures under the Pelly amendment to the fishermen's protective act of 1967" were among the options being considered by his department to show U.S. disapproval of Japan's latest proposal to kill sperm and bryde's whales.
The Japanese Embassy left AFP's requests for comments unanswered Sunday.
Commercial whaling was banned by the International Whaling Commission in 1986.
But Japan, which has a long tradition of whaling, and treats whale meat as a great delicacy, used a loophole in the accord to resume killing minke whales just one year later, purportedly for "scientific research" purposes.
The Japanese research program now claims 440 minke whales are killed annually in the waters off Antarctica, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
Japan has recently announced plans to kill 10 sperm whales and 50 bryde's whales in the north pacific, triggering a storm of public protest and threats of sanctions.
A high-level international delegation discussed Japanese whaling plans with government officials in Tokyo earlier this month and declared its opposition to Japan's "scientific" whaling.
The environmental organization Greenpeace has launched an international petition to stop the Japanese whaling fleet, which the group said set sail for the North Pacific on July 29.