Russia to Lose Most-Favored-Nation Trade Status, Access to Diamond-Encrusted Ferraris

Allow us to tradesplain.

What are Sexxxy Joe Biden and America's sexxxy allies doing to punish Russia, sexxxily, for its penetration of Ukraine's borders? It seems they are slapping Russia's hand and saying in a very husky voice, "No, you dirty bitch, that is not for you."

By which we mean, revoking Russia's most-favored-nation trade status with the US, in conjunction with the European Union and anyone else who wants to get in on the fun. We just didn't want to explain it to you in language that is too dry, which makes it harder to sink in.

What is Most Favored Nation trade status?

Most Favored Nation status means that if a country wants to trade with another country in the World Trade Organization (WTO), it must grant the same terms to every other nation. For example, let's say the US wants to put a five percent tariff on any sex toys it imports from Indonesia. The US must then put the same five percent tariff on any sex toys it imports from another country, be it Russia, Ukraine, Outer Mongolia, Senegal, and so on. Theoretically this levels the playing field between large and small countries, so that the latter get many of the advantages of the former. So Senegal's small domestic sex toy production industry will have equal access to the booming United States sex toy market as major player in the world sex toy market Indonesia.

(This is all just one possible example off the top of our head, yr Wonkette does not have a drawerful of Indonesian-made straps, masks and exotic oils, MOM.)

In the modern era, Most Favored Nation status has been governed by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade treaty (GATT), which was first written in the late 1940s as part of the West's efforts to counter the Soviet Union trying to expand its influence. So for decades, the United States was forbidden by law to grant MFN to the USSR and other communist countries, which meant higher tariffs on those nations' products. Russia was eventually granted Most Favored Nation status by the US in 1992, after the Soviet Union collapsed. Doing so was considered an important step in helping Russia, with its abundant resources, become more integrated into the world's economic system.

Around 180 nations are parties to the GATT, which given that the world only has something like 196 nations, means that a country that has its status revoked will take a huge economic hit. Russia's economy is feeling some very, very sharp effects already as businesses have rushed to pull their money out of the country and cut off further investments in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. Losing MFN status with the US and the rest of the G7 countries will badly increase that pressure.

Sounds hot! But how will it affect me, the center of the universe, personally?

President Joe Biden announced he will also cut off imports of several of Russia's most heavily traded products, like seafood and vodka. The US imported nearly 49,000 metric tons of Russian seafood last year. A large amount of this was crab, so if you like to order the snow and red king crab combo platter at your local Long John Silver's, it might either be much more expensive or off the menu altogether.

Russian vodka only makes up about 1.3 percent of all imported vodkas, so this should not have much of an effect on you drinking alone and sobbing while watching the news, you rummies.

Biden is also cutting off the export of some luxury goods to Russia, such as booze, tobacco, furs, jewelry, diamonds, and cars. Which could make the oligarchs, their wives, their children, and their mistresses, all of whom seem to love seriously gauche displays of wealth, very unhappy. As for Americans, well, if you are a distiller or a tobacco farmer or a furrier who sells a lot of product in Russia, sorry. Maybe take up a more lucrative career like blogging.

Let's talk about the sex toys again.

Those are not for you, you dirty bitch.

[ CNN / New York Times / WTO ]

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