US to revoke Russia's 'most favoured nation' trade status over Ukraine invasion

Washington: Amid escalating war between Russia and Ukraine that entered sixteenth day, US President Joe Biden announced on Friday that the US, along with the G7 and European Union, will call for revoking "most favoured nation" status for Russia.

The move would hold Russian President Vladimir Putin "even more accountable for his aggression against Ukraine," said Biden. "Each of our nations will take steps to deny `most favoured nation` status to Russia," added US President. 

A most favoured nation status designation means two countries have agreed to trade with each other under the best possible terms -- low tariffs, few barriers to trade and the highest possible imports allowed.

The US President explained what the move means, "In the United States, we call this permanent normal trade relations, PNTR, but it`s the same thing. Revoking PNTR for Russia is going to make it harder for Russia to do business with the United States and 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 step requires an act of Congress. The move was one of the multiple new actions on trade expected to be made by the Biden administration toward Russia. The United States will also ban imports of alcohol and seafood, such as vodka and caviar, from Russia, a White House official told CNN.

Each country is expected to implement this measure based on its own national processes. Sources familiar with the move made note of congressional efforts to revoke Russia`s permanent normal trade relations. Congress is expected to introduce legislation following Biden`s announcement.

CNN reported on Thursday that bipartisan talks in the Senate had been taking shape to take more aggressive action on Russia`s trade status -- after the White House effectively watered down the House-passed bill banning importing Russian oil, natural gas and coal into the US.

Further, Biden warned that Russia will pay a "severe price" if the country uses chemical weapons in Ukraine. "I am not going to speak about the intelligence, but Russia will pay a severe price if they use chemicals," Biden told CNN announcing further sanctions and export controls against Russia. 

The US government has previously found that the Russian government used chemical weapons in both the 2020 poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny and in 2018 against Sergei and Yulia Skripal in England, reported CNN.

Both determinations by the US led to sanctions under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act, which requires the President to impose economic and diplomatic sanctions if a country is found to have used chemical weapons.

Additionally, Syria`s Bashar al-Assad, whose regime is supported by Russia, used chemical weapons in an attack in 2017. Biden also said the G7 is adding sanctions to more Russian oligarchs and their families as the invasion of Ukraine continues.

"The G7 also stepping up pressure on corrupt Russian billionaires. We`re adding new names to the list of oligarchs and their families that we`re targeting, and we`re increasing coordination among the G7 countries to target and capture their ill-begotten gains," Biden said at the White House.

"They support Putin. They steal from the Russian people, and they seek to hide their money in our countries. They`re part of that kleptocracy that exists in Moscow, and they must share in the pain of these sanctions," he said. Biden said Russian imports of seafood, vodka and diamonds will be banned.

"While we`re going after their super-yachts and their vacation homes, and worth hundreds of millions of dollars, we`re also going to make it harder for them to buy high-end products manufactured in our country, banning the export of luxury goods to Russia. They`re also the latest steps we`re taking, but they`re not the last steps we`re going to take," he continued.