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The EU is considering levying tariffs on up to €42bn of Russian imports that have been spared by the sanctions regime imposed by the bloc in response to Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
EU trade ministers on Thursday asked the European Commission to draw up a plan to place duties on products that are exempt from the measures, such as food, nuclear fuel and medicines, with the revenues likely to go to Ukraine. The initiative was put forward by Sweden.
Ministers also endorsed tariffs on cereals and oilseeds from Russia and Belarus, which will take effect on July 1, after a surge in imports.
While most EU trade with Russia has been halted as a result of the war in Ukraine, some imports are still allowed either because there are no alternatives for supplies or because of fears of causing global market disruptions.
The EU has set the tariffs on Russian wheat so high — €95 a tonne — they amount to an effective ban, but it has stopped short of imposing sanctions to counter Russia’s claim that the bloc is halting food exports to the developing world.
Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU’s trade commissioner, said: “Sweden has initiated a discussion on a broader use of tariffs on imports from Russia. From the European Commission’s side, we will be assessing this and providing member states with options to move forward.”
He added that the tariffs on cereals, oilseeds and derivatives would ensure that “Russia cannot destabilise the EU market through redirected grain exports”.
“It will tackle illegal Russian exports of stolen Ukrainian grain products into the EU market, and will prevent Russia from using the revenues from the export of these goods to the EU to fund its aggression against Ukraine.”
The UK, Canada, US, Australia and New Zealand have already imposed tariffs on many Russian imports.
Swedish trade minister Johan Forssell told the Financial Times it was important to cut Russia’s revenues. “A lot of the income is used for funding Vladimir Putin’s war machine. So, what we said today is that we need to address these exports that are still in place despite the sanctions.”
He called for “broad tariffs on all that trade”, but accepted that “it’s sensitive in some areas”. Still, according to the Swedish minister, there was “very strong support for this around the table”. Tariffs require approval by a majority of member states.
“I also think that the income from these tariffs could be spent to help Ukraine to win this war,” Forssell added.
