DThe United States and other G-7 countries want to largely restrict trade with Russia because of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. us President Joe Biden announced on Friday that the US and its allies would strip Russia of its “most favorite nation” status. This would pave the way for an increase in tariffs and trade restrictions. Biden also announced import restrictions on vodka, seafood and diamonds from Russia.
experts are skeptical
The so-called most-favored-nation treatment is a central principle in international trade policy and essentially states that one country is given the same benefits as other trading partners. under the statutes of the World Trade Organization world trade organization For example, each member is committed to passing on the trade benefits of one country to all the others. Granting MFN status to Russia would allow trading partners to impose higher tariffs on Moscow to punish Russian exports.
However, experts had doubts about the effectiveness of the measure against Russia. “Direct US trade with Russia is comparatively small,” said William Reinsch of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington. “Therefore, higher tariffs will not hurt them (the Russians) much and may increase costs for our producers who depend on major goods from them.”
Last year, the United States imported goods from Russia worth just under $30 billion (€27 billion). More than half of that was petroleum, valued at $17.5 billion. Biden had already announced an import ban on Russian oil on Tuesday.,
The West has imposed massive sanctions on Russia in recent weeks. These concern, among others, the Russian central bank, other Russian banks, President Vladimir Putin personally and several oligarchs. In addition, many Western companies have withdrawn from Russia.
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