From now on, no more of these Russian-origin metals will be imported into either the U.S. or the UK, nor will any more of these Russian-origin metals appear on global exchanges.
Starting on April 13, 2024, the leading commodity exchanges – the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) – banned trade in Russian-origin metals, effectively cutting off the Western supply of these metals.
In a statement, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated that the prohibitions "continue to target the revenue Russia can earn" to fund its special military operation in Ukraine.
The U.S., Yellen added, aims to "reduce Russia's earnings while protecting our partners and allies from unwanted spillover effects."
(Related: Insurance companies left and right are adding "war exclusion" clauses to customer policies in anticipation of another world war.)
In response to the move, Moscow's ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov called it an "unjustified and politicized step" that will, in time, backfire on the West, just like the earlier sanctions that ended up fortifying Russia's position of strength rather than damaging it.
Washington's latest decision to ban Russian metals was "probably based on calculations that commodity prices will not skyrocket in the U.S. itself," Antonov noted, adding that the U.S. had already reduced its own imports of Russian metals to a bare minimum.
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By banning Russian metals, the U.S. and the UK are "provoke[ing] imbalances on the global markets by involving its satellite states in sanctions," Antonov continued, further stating that the move itself is "illegal."
As with earlier U.S. sanctions against Russia, Moscow is already working towards sidestepping the ban while diversifying its foreign trade, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a recent visit to China.
Lavrov spoke of the "economic gaps" that will result from the "illegal policy of unilateral sanctions" during his visit. He also discussed with Wang Yi, his Chinese counterpart, plans for tackling them within the framework of BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
"Let the U.S. sanction itself into complete isolation and oblivion," one commenter wrote about this truly stupid move by Yellen and her gang.
"Russia never should have traded with the U.S. in the first place until all American bases were removed from Europe," added another.
Someone else wrote that Russia really needs to start playing hard ball at this point by working more closely with China, which sounds as if it is currently in the works, to "strangle the U.S. and the UK."
"NO more essential goods to the U.S.," this person wrote. "Sell all bonds. Take the U.S. down. Softly, softly. Reactionary. Come on."
Another emphasized that the only people being punished by the latest metals ban are the American people who no longer have the freedom to "purchase goods from the markets of their choice."
"This is price fixing by U.S. corporations via government sanctions," this commenter added. "Very typical economic fascism."
"See what happens when you let old geezers run a country: they create chaos and large-scale issues," said another. "They don't care as they will not be around for long to deal with the fallout. U.S. politicians are idiots at best. Not even useful idiots."
"The U.S. is a kleptocratic, corrupt, corporate fascist oligarchy," responded another. "The idea of democratic republic has been replaced by a very bankrupt police state."
The latest news about the West's demise can be found at Collapse.news.
Sources for this article include: