President Biden is expected to announce Friday that the U.S., European Union and G7 countries are moving to revoke Russia’s “most favored nation” trade status over its invasion of Ukraine.
Bipartisan lawmakers have been calling on him to revoke the status, known as “permanent normal trade relations,” with Russia. The favored status means that nations cannot discriminate in their treatment of their trading partners. The removal of the status means the U.S. and allies will be able to impose tariffs on Russian imports.
Within the past few days, companies such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, Hilton Worldwide Hotels, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. have announced changes to their operations in Russia, decisions the White House says have been made by the companies, independent of the U.S. government.
The Biden administration has received reports that Russia is considering seizing the assets of countries that have announced they intend to suspend their operations in Russia, Psaki tweeted Thursday night. She said the possible Russian retaliation would “ultimately result in even more economic pain for Russia” and “compound the clear message to the global business community that Russia is not a safe place to invest and do business.”
The U.S. and its allies have imposed punishing sanctions against Russia since the invasion, taking aim at the country’s financial system and Russian elites, including Russian President Vladimir Putin himself.
Earlier this week, Mr. Biden also announced a U.S. ban on Russian oil and gas imports, targeting “the main artery of Russia’s economy” as Russian forces continue battering Ukrainian cities.
“We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas energy,” the president said. “That means Russian oil will no longer be accepted in U.S. ports, and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine.”
Democrats and Republicans have also rallied behind sending aid to Ukraine. A $13.6 billion emergency aid package for Ukraine and its European allies won final congressional approval on Thursday.
World leaders are expected to convene on Friday morning after Russia hastily called a U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss in open debate what it called “the military biological activities of the U.S. on the territory of Ukraine” — leading the Biden administration to immediately denounce it as a “false flag effort.”
Contributing: The Associated Press
