OTTAWA, Ont. — Canada is revoking Russia and Belarus’ official statuses as preferential trading partners, the first country to do so since war broke out in Ukraine last week.
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Thursday the two countries will no longer enjoy the perks of being a “most-favored-nation” under trade law. Low tariffs will be gone, she said, and a new 35 percent duty will be applied on Russian and Belarusian imports.
“We are working closely with our partners and allies to encourage them to take the same step,” Freeland said. Her office confirmed the government can unilaterally revoke status benefits without having to go through Parliament.
Trade between Canada and Russia is relatively low with both exports and imports falling over the past decade. The value of Russian imports hovered around C$930 million in 2016, according to government data.
The United States Trade Representative may take similar action against Russia. “USTR is considering a range of options, and working with members of Congress, to advance a resolute, effective, and united global response to Putin’s premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine,” a spokesperson told POLITICO.
The announcement comes two days after Freeland called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to attack Ukraine as “the last gasp of a failing kleptocracy.”
Freeland, who also serves as finance minister, had teased more sanctions would be on the way after international penalties announced Monday plunged the ruble and spiked inflation. Those measures targeted Russia's central bank, its finance ministry and sovereign wealth fund and have kept Moscow's stock exchange closed since.
“This is a significant and direct impact which is already being felt by every single person in Russia,” the deputy prime minister said before turning her attention to oligarchs and members of Putin’s inner circle.
“These are people who have tried to have it both ways for a long time,” she said. “There are people who have been hangers-on of Vladimir Putin, his sycophants, his enablers, as he has become more and more of a threat to the world.”
More sanctions are expected. Freeland said she's working closely with G-7 partners on finding new avenues to put pressure on Putin. She said she texts her British peer, Chancellor Rishi Sunak, “several times a day.”
Canada has been ratcheting up its financial sanctions against Russia in recent days in an effort to starve Putin’s coffers. The Canadian Armed Forces have also stepped up contributions.
New shipments of protective equipment have been promised. Supplies of lethal weapons have also been flown to neighboring Poland to arm Ukraine's front lines. National Defence Minister Anita Anand announced Thursday that more lethal aid is on its way to Ukraine.
The new package includes up to 4,500 M-72 rocket launchers and up to 7,500 hand grenades, all drawn from the Canadian military’s existing supply.
Canada will also give C$1 million to Ukraine for the purchase of high-resolution satellite imagery “to better surveil the movements of the Russian forces in and outside of their territory,” Anand said.
As of Thursday, 1,260 Canadian Armed Forces personnel are participating in NATO deterrence efforts abroad and additional troops remain on standby. There are 3,400 Canadian troops on “high readiness alert,” Anand said.
Freeland said the situation in Ukraine will likely get worse and Canadians need to brace themselves for that reality.
“It's already been a bloodbath,” she said. “I think it's gonna become more of a bloodbath.”
One million people have fled Ukraine in the past week since Putin's military attacked the country, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.
On a humanitarian level, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Sean Fraser announced Ukrainians fleeing conflict, and want to reunite with family in Canada, will be eligible for an expedited permanent residency under a new program.
The deputy prime minister warned on Tuesday that tougher sanctions on Russia carry the risk of economic blowback, or “collateral damage” as she put it.
The scenario came up during a meeting of G-7 finance ministers, Freeland said at the time.
“We spoke candidly with one another and we said in order to be really effective, in order to really have an impact, we are going to have to be prepared for there to be some adverse consequences for our own economies,” she said.
European countries are more intertwined with Russia than Canada, prompting EU policymakers to find ways to shelter economies from the stinging blowback of sanctions.
The European Commission is working on a package to mitigate possible financial shocks on the continent, which could be adopted as early as next week before EU leaders meet Thursday in Paris.
Doug Palmer contributed to this report.
----------------------------------------
By: Zi-Ann Lum
Title: Canada strips Russia, Belarus of trade status in latest sanctions salvo
Sourced From: www.politico.com/news/2022/03/03/canada-strips-russia-belarus-trade-status-00013758
Published Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2022 11:57:09 EST
Did you miss our previous article...
https://consumernewsnetwork.com/politics-us/-how-zelenskyys-acting-career-showed-hints-of-his-powerful-underdog-leadership
