The United States, European Union and other allies escalated their economic pressure on Russia, yesterday, to strip Moscow of privileged trade and economic treatment among other steps to punish it for its military operation of Ukraine. US President Joe Biden said, the new actions collectively will further hobble a Russian economy already weighed down by previously announced international sanctions that have cratered the rouble and forced the stock market to close.
Referring to ending normal trade relations, Biden said, doing it in unison with other nations that make up half of the global economy will be another crushing blow to the Russian economy that’s already suffering very badly from our sanctions. The measures announced by the EU, the United States and other G7 allies amount to a fourth set of sanctions against Russia over the Feb 24 military operation. They include efforts seeking to end Moscow’s most-favored-nation trade status, opening the door to banning or imposing punitive tariffs on Russian goods and putting Russia on a par with North Korea or Iran. They will also ban luxury goods from being exported from their countries to Russia, designed as a blow to Russian elites.
As a first step, the EU will prohibit imports of iron and steel sector goods from Russia. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was also working to suspend Russia’s membership rights of leading multilateral institutions, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and crack down on its use of crypto-assets. The US Congress would need to pass legislation to revoke Russia’s trade status, and lawmakers have been moving in that direction. The United States also moved to shut down development funds while announcing a ban on imports of Russian seafood, vodka and diamonds, too. The White House said Biden would ban US investment in Russia beyond the energy sector.
