US President Joe Biden has finalised plans to strip Russia of its “most favoured nation” trade status, according to a source familiar with the matter, a move that would pave the way for tariff hikes.
Final approval on the new measure in response to the invasion of Ukraine to be taken in coordination with the G7 countries and the European Union will be decided by Congress, the source added.
However, it should be a formality, as Congress has already declared itself in favour of such a sanction.
Most favoured nation (MFN) is an international trade status accorded by one state to another and means the country which is the recipient must nominally receive equal trade advantages.
Depriving Russia of the status would allow trading partners to impose higher customs tariffs on Moscow, so as to penalize exports.
Biden’s schedule will “announce actions to continue to hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine.”
The new sanction comes on top of several rounds of measures intended to gradually cut Russia’s economic and financial ties with the rest of the world.
Other individual countries are expected to implement the measure based on their national processes.
Lawmakers on Thursday passed a huge spending bill, including almost $14 billion in humanitarian and military aid to war-torn Ukraine, as its invasion by Russia entered its third week.
More than doubling from an initial $6.4 billion last week, the $13.6 billion relief includes aid for refugees, supplying weapons and supporting NATO allies in eastern Europe.
