BREAKING: Russian vodka affected by new UK trade sanctions

BREAKING: Russian vodka affected by new UK trade sanctions.

NEW UK trade sanctions will affect Russian vodka, luxury cars, fashion and art, according to a statement from Boris Johnson’s government on Tuesday, March 15.

The new export ban will “likely affect luxury vehicles, high-end fashion and works of art”, while a 35 per cent hike to import tariffs on Russian goods such as vodka, as reported by the Mirror.

A spokesman said: “Russian vodka is one of the iconic products affected by the tariff increases, while the export ban will likely affect luxury vehicles, high-end fashion and works of art.

“The measures will cause maximum harm to Putin’s war machine while minimising the impact on UK businesses as G7 leaders unite to unleash a fresh wave of economic sanctions on Moscow.

“The export ban will come into force shortly and will make sure oligarchs and other members of the elite, who have grown rich under President Putin’s reign and support his illegal invasion, are deprived of access to luxury goods.”

Currently, some £900 million (€1,108 million) worth of key products such as Russian vodka, metals, fertilisers and other commodities are imported into the UK annually.

International trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “The UK stands shoulder to shoulder with our international partners in our determination to punish Putin for his barbaric actions in Ukraine, and we will continue our work to starve his regime of the funds that enable him to carry them out.

“The World Trade Organisation is founded on respect for the rule of law, which Putin has shown he holds in contempt. By depriving his government of key benefits of WTO membership, we are denying him further resources for his invasion.”

The new sanctions from the UK come after similar restrictions were placed on Russia from the US.

On March 11, US President Joe Biden made the announcement that the US and its allies (the G7 and the European Union) had revoked trade relations with Russia following talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Speaking at the time, Mr Biden said: “Each of our nations will take steps to deny ‘most favoured nation’ status to Russia. 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,” Biden said.

“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.”

Biden’s ban included imports of alcohol and seafood, such as vodka and caviar, from Russia.

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