US, UK ban Russian metals imports, restrict their trade on exchanges
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The United States and Britain ban the exchange of several metals produced in Russia from being traded on the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) starting May.
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A worker wears a hard hat at the Irkutsk Aluminum Smelter (IrkAZ) operated by Rusal of the En+ Group’s Metals segment in March 2023. (TASS)
The United States has prohibited the importing of Russian-origin aluminum, copper, and nickel into the country and collaborated with the United Kingdom to restrict the trading of these metals on international exchanges.
In a statement, Britain said that the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) "will no longer trade new aluminium, copper and nickel produced by Russia."
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"The Trade Licence has been amended to: prevent UK persons (and non-UK persons in the UK) from acquiring, on a global metal exchange, a warrant relating to Russian metal that was produced after 23:59 on 12 April 2024; allow UK persons (and non-UK persons in the UK) to take physical delivery, outside the UK, of metals that were under warrant on a global metal exchange at that time," the statement added.
The measures will exempt the existing stock of Russian metal at the exchanges, and will target metals produced in Russia as of April 13, 2024.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday that the ban will “continue to target the revenue Russia can earn” to fund its war efforts in Ukraine. Washington aims to “reduce Russia’s earnings while protecting our partners and allies from unwanted spillover effects."
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'US provoking imbalances in global markets'
Russia's ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, slammed the US' decision, saying that this “unjustified and politicized step" will inevitably backfire.
The United States' prohibition move is “probably based on calculations that commodity prices will not skyrocket in the US itself,” he said, noting that Washington has already reduced its imports of Russian metals to a minimum.
Nonetheless, through this new action deemed "illegal," the US administration is, in fact, “provoking imbalances on the global markets by involving its satellite states in sanctions,” he added.
Russia will take further steps to work around Western sanctions and diversify its foreign trade,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow will take further measures to bypass Western sanctions and difersify its foreign trade.
During a visit to China, Lavrov discussed with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi the “economic gaps” resulting from the “illegal policy of unilateral sanctions” and plans on how to address them within the framework of BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization SCO.
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