The government has announced a 35% tariff on hundreds of Russian products including food, as it steps up its economic measures against Vladimir Putin.
The swingeing new tariffs, estimated to be nearly £1bn, will apply to a raft of food products and materials used in food and drink including beverages, cereals, spirits (including vodka), vinegar, oilseeds, white fish and fertilisers.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the latest measures had been designed to “inflict maximum damage on the Russian economy while minimising the impact on the UK”.
However, some sources expressed fears that the moves could exert yet more inflationary pressure on food prices, despite a raft of retailers having taken action to delist Russian products since the war broke out.
The government singled out vodka as one of the key Russian products to be hit by the ban, though as The Grocer has reported supermarkets have already been pulling Russian vodka from their shelves, as part of a wider move by the industry to cut its ties with the Russian supply chain.
However, the government said Russian vodka was an “iconic product” and that the tariffs would damage Putin’s war machine.
“Our new tariffs will further isolate the Russian economy from global trade, ensuring it does not benefit from the rules-based international system it does not respect,” said Sunak.
“These tariffs build on the UK’s existing work to starve Russia’s access to international finance, sanction Putin’s cronies and exert maximum economic pressure on his regime.”
The initial reaction to the ban from suppliers was mixed.
One source said: “It sounds like wishful thinking for the government to think that a 35% tariff on imports on products like fertiliser, glass and wheat will minimise the impact on British consumers.
“There are also big questions over what happens to products that may already have been ordered that originate from Russia and whether these will now face tariffs.”
However, Ged Futter, founder of The Retail Mind, said: “Supermarkets have been doing everything they can to cut ties with Russia. They began writing to suppliers two weeks ago to ask them to list exactly what ingredients originated in Russia so the writing has been on the wall.
“With this in mind, I’m not sure the tariff will have a huge impact.”
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