UK bans luxury goods exports to Russia, introduces new import tariffs

The UK has banned the export of high-end luxury goods to Russia as part of its latest slew of sanctions, the government has announced.

Alongside the ban on luxury products, the UK is denying Russia and Belarus access to the Most Favoured Nation tariff for hundreds of their key exports.

The UK government published an initial list on Tuesday of goods worth 900 million pounds which will now face an additional 35 percent tariff, on top of current tariffs. Among those products are Russian fur and vodka.

This is the latest in a series of sanctions by the West against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February. The EU and US have also banned exports of luxury goods to Russia.

The UK also said Tuesday it will no longer issue any new guarantees, loans and insurance for exports to Russia and Belarus.

But UK Export Finance (UKEF) - the UK’s export credit agency - said it will remain open to supporting trade to Ukraine with 3.5 billion pounds of capacity available as part of its “continuing and unwavering alliance”.

More sanctions for Russia

The UK said the “severe” economic sanctions against Russia and Belarus “further reflects the economic impact of the rapidly escalating and unprecedented action taken by the UK and its allies”.

Chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak said: “Our new tariffs will further isolate the Russian economy from global trade, ensuring it does not benefit from the rules-based international system it does not respect.

“These tariffs build on the UK’s existing work to starve Russia’s access to international finance, sanction Putin’s cronies and exert maximum economic pressure on his regime.”