Boozehounds, say bye-bye to Russian vodka.
On Friday, President Joe Biden announced the US, European Union and G7 nations were planning to take Russia off their "most favored nation" lists, meaning their countries would no longer have a reciprocal trade agreement.
According to CNN, these agreements encompass things like lower tariffs and border taxes, as well as fewer barriers to trade and high imports. Additionally, the US will now ban the import of flagship Russian products such as vodka, diamonds and caviar, which will lead to Russia losing $1 billion in export revenues. Biden also said the US would suspend the exportation of luxury items to Russia, including spirits, tobacco, clothing, jewelry, cars and antiques.
"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," Biden said, referring to the ruble's dramatic plunge in value due to these sanctions and international businesses shutting down their Russian operations.
This is just the latest economic sanction against Russia as a result of its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, which has already resulted in nations across the globe doing everything from denying Russia loans to sanctions on Russian oligarchs and politicians and bans on other goods and resources, like oil and natural gas.
Biden added, "Many issues divide us in Washington, but standing for democracy in Ukraine, pushing Russia's aggression should not be one of those issues. The free world is coming together to confront Putin."
Photo via Getty / Matthew Horwood