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The U.S. Congress voted overwhelmingly Thursday to strip Russia’s normal trade status with the U.S. and ban imports of its gas, oil and coal, adding to the economic squeeze by the U.S. and its allies to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government over the invasion of Ukraine.
The trade legislation puts Russia and Belarus, which has hosted Russian troops, in the same category as pariah states such as North Korea and Cuba. The separate fossil fuel ban bill codifies an executive action taken by President Joe Biden last month.
Both measures had broad, bipartisan support and now head to Biden’s desk for his expected signature.
“This is another tightening of the noose around Vladimir Putin and we will make him pay,” Oregon Democrat Earl Blumenauer, who co-authored the trade bill, said before the vote.
Representative Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican, said the legislation “will stop American dollars from funding Putin’s bloodletting.”
The trade bill allows the U.S. to impose large tariff increases on goods from Russia and Belarus. Under the legislation, the tariffs on iron and some steel products could be raised to 20% from 0%. Plywood could face a 50% levy and some reaction engines could have import taxes of 35%, according to a Senate Democratic aide. Biden already banned signature Russian products like vodka, seafood and industrial diamonds.
It passed the Senate in a rare 100-0 roll call vote. The House cleared it 420-3, with Republicans Matt Gaetz of Florida, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky the only no votes.
The Senate also passed the oil ban unanimously. In the House, Gaetz, Greene and Massie were joined in voting against it by Republicans Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar of Arizona, and Chip Roy of Texas, along with Democrats Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Cori Bush of Missouri.
Read: Lawmakers Accuse Oil Executives of ‘Profiteering’ as War Strains Supplies
When crude oil and all other petroleum products are included, such as unfinished fuel oil that can be used to produce gasoline and diesel, Russia accounted for about 8% of 2021 U.S. oil imports, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The trade bill was delayed in the Senate for about a week because of a hold up from Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, about the wording of an expansion of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which was embedded in the bill. Other squabbles among senators also delayed action. Lawmakers ultimately reached a deal after weeks of haggling.
That provision would authorize the Biden administration to impose further sanctions on Russian officials for human rights violations. Paul wanted the legislation, which is named for a Russian lawyer who died in custody after investigating tax fraud, to be more specific about the types of transgressions that would trigger sanctions. He agreed to stop blocking the bill after reaching a compromise with Senate leaders.
An initial version of the bill passed the House in March, but revisions in the Senate meant the legislation needed to clear the chamber again in order to go to Biden.
By mid-March, a quarter of the World Trade Organization’s 164 members — collectively representing 58% of the global gross domestic product — were poised to stop treating Russia as a so-called most-favored-nation under WTO rules.
Besides the U.S., the list includes the European Union’s 27 members, Japan, the U.K., Canada, South Korea and Australia.
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