An American plan to strengthen its economic war against Russia by banning all exports has not been well received by US allies. According to the Financial Times, the European Union and Japan have pushed back against a trade embargo on Moscow.
Last week, Bloomberg News reported Washington would seek to convince members of the Group of 7 (G7) to end exports to Russia. While the US attempted to isolate Moscow and cripple its economy after the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has weathered the Western sanctions. Additionally, G7 states have continued to trade with Russia. According to Trade Data Monitor, G7 countries – the US, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Union – exported $66 billion to Russia over the past 14 months.
Washington’s new proposal would shift how sanctions against Moscow are enforced. Currently, the US and its allies blacklist particular Russian products, companies and individuals, barring Americans from business transactions with the targeted entities. If adopted, the export ban will prohibit all trade with Moscow unless there is an explicit exemption.
On Monday, FT reported that Japan and the EU are refusing to sign on to the plan. Though Washington was hoping to implement the export ban at an upcoming G7 summit in Hiroshima on May 19, one unnamed official told FT, “From our perspective, it is simply not do-able.”
Members of the G7 are open to signing a statement that calls for cracking down on people and businesses that attempt to evade sanctions on Moscow. Earlier this month, two US Treasury officials traveled to Europe and threatened penalties on countries not fully in line with the economic war on Russia.
The Kremlin said it would respond to the proposed trade ban by revoking a grain export agreement brokered by the UN and Turkey in July 2022, which has allowed 23 million tonnes of food products to leave Ukraine’s heavily mined Black Sea ports.
