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President Joe Biden announced a new slate of sanctions on Russian products during a speech at the White House on Friday (March 11). The latest sanctions include a ban on imports of alcohol, seafood, and diamonds. Those products account for more than $1 billion in export revenues for Russia.
He also banned the export of spirits, tobacco, clothing, jewelry, cars, and antiques to Russia.
Biden went a step further and called on Congress, along with the G7 and the European Union, to end permanent normal trade relations with Russia by revoking its "most favored nation" status.
"Revoking PNTR for Russia is going to make it harder for Russia to do business with the United States, and doing it in unison with other nations that make up half of the global economy will be another crushing blow to the Russian economy that's already suffering very badly from our sanctions,"Â Biden said.
Legislation to bring an end to normal trade relations with Russia will be introduced in Congress and is expected to have bipartisan support. Earlier in the week, the House easily passed a bill banning the import of Russian oil on a 414-17 vote.
"Many issues divide us in Washington, but standing for democracy in Ukraine, pushing Russia's aggression should not be one of those issues. The free world is coming together to confront Putin," Biden said.