US slashes Russia trade status, bans import of alcohol and seafood

President Joe Biden announced Friday the US will dramatically downgrade its trade status with Russia as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine and also ban imports of Russian seafood alcohol and diamondsThe broad trade shift which revokes the most favoured nation status for Russia is being taken in coordination with the European Union and Group of Seven countriesThe free world is coming together to confront Putin Biden said from the Roosevelt Room of the White HouseStripping most favoured nation status from Russia would allow the US and allies to impose higher tariffs on some Russian imports increasing the isolation of the Russian economyBidens changes on Russias trade status come as bipartisan pressure has been building in Washington to revoke what is formally known as iquestpermanent normal trade relationsiquest with Russia Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed the US and allies to take the action against Russia in remarks to Congress over the weekend It follows days after the Biden moved to ban imports of Russian oil and gas productsThis weeks moves are the latest for the sanctions that have crippled the Russian economy and a sign that the US and its allies will continue to use their financial heft to retaliate against Russian President Vladimir Putin The other measures include the freezing of central bank assets limits on exports and sanctions against Russian oligarchs and their familiesThese financial tools have led to the Russian ruble losing 7637 of its value against the US dollar over the past month which has caused destructive inflation that could erode Putins ability to wage a prolonged war in UkraineBiden after initially slowwalking congressional attempts to take the trade action against Russia was embracing lawmakers efforts to do just that on FridayThe earlier sanctions on imports of Russian oil gas and coal cut off about 6037 of US imports from the countryMost favored nation status has been a baseline for global trade ensuring that countries within the World Trade Organization are treated similarly Some countries in the WTO have special privileges due to their status as developing economies Russia would join the ranks of Cuba and North Korea by not having MFN status from the USThe revocation carries mostly symbolic weight Because Russian imports into the US are primarily natural resources they would generally face little to no increase in their tariffs because of the lost status Ed Gresser of the Progressive Policy Institute in Washington said in an online postInstead of the current tariff rate buyers of Russian goods would pay rates established under the SmootHawley Tariff Act of 1930 which disrupted trade during the Great Depression This would still be zero for uranium rhodium palladium silver bullion and king crabs But the import tax would shoot up for unwrought aluminum plywood semifinished steel and diamonds among other productsOn Monday Democrats on the powerful House Ways amp Means Committee posted then removed an announcement on a bipartisan bill to ban Russian oil imports and slap further trade sanctions on the country according to an aide because of pushback from the White House against acting before Biden had coordinated with allies and reached a decision on both mattersThe House voted Wednesday on a narrower bill to ban Russian energy imports after Biden instituted the ban by executive orderCanada was the first major US ally to remove most favoured nation status for Russia last weekBidens action was first reported by Bloomberg NewsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever