The US President signed a bill suspending normal trade relationships with Russia even as Moscow steps up its war in Ukraine. Joe Biden’s move is expected to pave the way for America to raise import tariffs and levy additional sanctions on Belarus and Russia. The Russia sanctions are expected to force the nation to back out of Ukraine.
The Russia sanctions are the latest in the move to pressurize the two nations for the war in Ukraine. It is also the only time that Capitol Hill has responded directly to the war in Europe.
While one bill suspended regular trade links with both Belarus and Russia, the other put severe restrictions on the import of energy from Russia comprising coal, natural gas, and oil.
Jen Psaki the Press Secretary at the White House, has clarified that the US President would sign both the bills and the Russia sanctions had the full backing of the president and were something that he had initiated.
The US, the EU, and other American military partners and allies are imposing multiple Russia sanctions to force them to stop the war against Ukraine.
Russia Sanctions Will Lead To Loss Of Most Favored Nation Status
Belarus, which has backed Russia directly in its war against Ukraine has also lost its ‘most favored nation’ standing under the enacted law.
The American Trade Representative office has revealed that Russia was America’s 26 largest trading partner before the war began. Around $28B worth of goods will be traded both ways between the two nations in 2019.
Earlier the US Congress had broken its deadlock on the measures to be imposed on Russia and had forwarded the two bills to Biden. The new laws were meant to bring all tools of economic pressure to bear on President Putin and his oligarchs.
The direct impact of the Russia sanctions through the twin bills, imposed in the course of the conflict, is expected to be negligible. They merely reinforce moves made by the US President to remove trade preferences and ban energy imports from Russia. But the bills indicate significant gestures that signal bipartisan interest in supporting Ukraine’s fight to maintain its independence.
