US bars import of Russian alcohol, seafood and diamonds

President Joe Biden announced Friday that the United States will substantially downgrade Russia’s trade status as a punishment for invading Ukraine and that it will ban various imports from Russia, such as seafood, alcoholic beverages and diamonds, as a consequence.

The far-reaching commercial twist, which revokes the status of “MFN” for Russia, was adopted in coordination with the European Union (EU) and the Group of Seven countries.

“The free world is uniting to stand up to Putin”, declared Biden from the Roosevelt Room of the White House.

He also added that the United States and other countries were adding new names to a list of Russian oligarchs targeted by sanctions. He also said they were cutting off the flow of high-end American goods, such as watches, cars and luxury clothing, to Russia. “We are banning the export of luxury products to Russia“, ad.

Biden warned of further retaliation if Russia attacks Ukraine with chemical weapons, a possibility Biden administration officials have spoken about in recent days. “Russia would pay a high price if it used chemical weapons”, declared the American president.

Stripping Russia of most-favored-nation status would allow the United States and its allies to impose higher tariffs on their imports from Russia, deepening the isolation of the Russian economy in retaliation for the invasion.

Biden’s changes on Russia’s trade status come as bipartisan pressure has been mounting in Washington to revoke what is formally known as “permanent normal trade relations” with Russia.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the United States and its allies to take stronger action against Russia in remarks to Congress over the weekend. Days earlier, Biden ordered a ban on the import of Russian oil and gas products.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said lawmakers would pass a bill to formalize the trade downgrade.

“Putin’s premeditated and unprovoked war is an attack on the Ukrainian people and an attack on democracy, and we in the House remain steadfast in our commitment to team with President Biden and our allies to deliver swift and severe punishment on support for the ukrainian people“, he claimed.

The new steps announced Friday are the latest sanctions aimed at crippling the Russian economy and signal that the United States and its allies will continue to use their financial weight to retaliate against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The other measures include freezing Russian central bank assets, imposing limits on Russian exports, and sanctions against Russian oligarchs and their families.

These financial tools have led the Russian ruble to lose 76% of its value against the US dollar over the past month, leading to destructive inflation that could erode Putin’s ability to wage a protracted war in Ukraine.

Most favored nation status has been a cornerstone of world trade, ensuring that countries within the World Trade Organization receive similar treatment. Some WTO countries have special privileges due to their status as developing economies. Russia would join the ranks of Cuba and North Korea in not having most-favored-nation status from Washington.

The revocation has mostly a symbolic weight. Previous US sanctions against Russian oil, gas and coal imports cut off about 60% of US imports from the country and the new import bans announced Friday add up to just about $1 billion in revenue, according to figures from the White House.

Russia supplied less than 1% of US vodka imports in December, according to the US Alcoholic Beverage Council, and less than 2% of US fish and shellfish imports by volume, according to federal statistics.

Putin has indicated that Russia will be able to get ahead despite Western sanctions. The Russian president specifically cited the former Soviet Union as proof of the nation’s worth, even though that communist state collapsed in 1991.

“The Soviet Union lived all the time under the conditions of sanctions; developed and achieved colossal successesPutin said, according to a Kremlin text from a meeting on Friday.