Russia lawmakers draft list of US imports for banning
Russia’s lower house of parliament is to consider draft legislation that would give the Kremlin powers to ban or restrict a list of US imports, reacting to new US sanctions on a group of Russian tycoons and officials.
Senior lawmakers in the State Duma, which is dominated by Kremlin loyalists, said they had prepared the list ranging from food to medicine and consulting services in response to Washington’s move last week, Reuters reported.
It was not immediately clear if the draft legislation – which would allow the government to impose the measures should the need arise – would become law in its current form, or if it had the backing of the Kremlin.
A Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said it was understandable that Russian lawmakers wanted to retaliate against the US measures. He said, though, that the Kremlin had yet to familiarize itself with the draft law.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also said on Wednesday the country should look at US goods or goods produced in Russia by US companies.
The US sanctions, announced on April 6, target officials and business people around President Vladimir Putin in an aggressive response to alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.
Russia imported $12.5 billion worth of US products in 2017, according to official Russian customs data. That included aircraft, machinery, pharmaceutical and chemical products.