The European Union has agreed to impose steep tariffs on imports of cereals, oilseeds, and derived products from Russia and Belarus, effective July 1st. The move is intended to halt imports of these commodities from the two countries into the EU market.
Under the new measures, the tariffs will be set at 95 euros ($102.76) per ton for cereals and 50% for oilseeds. The tariffs will also apply to beet-pulp pellets and dried peas. This follows a proposal from the European Commission back in March.
The EU’s Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem, speaking on behalf of the Belgian presidency, said the new tariffs are meant to “prevent the destabilization of the EU’s grain market, halt Russian exports of illegally appropriated grain produced in the territories of Ukraine and prevent Russia from using revenues from exports to the EU to fund its war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Russia exported around 4.2 million metric tons of these products to the EU in 2023, worth 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion), representing about 1% of the EU market. However, the EU has expressed concerns that these imports could increase, as Russia’s overall wheat exports have risen to 50 million tons from the usual 35 million tons.
The EU has stated that the higher tariffs will not harm global food security, as they will not affect the transit of these products through EU territory to third countries.
The move has drawn criticism from Russia, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying the “new messages from the EU will yet have to be analysed. But their ideology is clear – they want to squeeze Russia out of everything.”
This decision by the EU is part of the bloc’s ongoing efforts to impose economic pressure on Russia and Belarus over their involvement in the war in Ukraine.