U.S. bans seafood, alcohol from Russia in latest sanctions wave

President Vladimir Putin has received near-universal condemnation for invading the sovereign nation of Ukraine. As a result, Russia is becoming increasingly isolated from the rest of the world, with several well-known businesses pulling out of the country and governments placing embargoes on oil originating from there  — the United States being one of them.

But oil isn't the product from Russia that the U.S. is banning from entering the country.

In the latest tranche of sanctions announced by the White House, President Joe Biden has placed a moratorium on several imports deriving from Russia, including seafood and non-industrial diamonds, as well as certain alcoholic beverages.

A fairly sizeable amount of the seafood that enters the United States from overseas markets derives from Europe's largest country by land mass. According to data from the National Marine Fisheries Service, the combined worth of Russian seafood exports to the U.S. in 2021 was $1.2 billion, making it the eighth-largest overseas exporter by value. Most of what Russia sends to other countries each year is snow crab, king crab and cod.

King crab is a major export for Russia.

Additionally, the White House announced it would no longer export luxury goods to Russia, including cars and high-end apparel.

"This will ensure that U.S. persons are not providing luxury items, such as high end-watches, luxury vehicles, high-end apparel, high-end alcohol, jewelry and other goods frequently purchased by Russian elites," the White House said in a press release. "The U.S. export value of the products covered by today's luxury goods restrictions is nearly $550 million per year. The elites who sustain Putin's war machine should no longer be able to reap the gains of this system and squander the resources of the Russian people."

Around 10% of the oil the U.S. imports comes from Russia
These latest actions designed to punish Russia for its unprovoked attack on Ukraine follow the White House's decision to stop accepting oil imports from the Kremlin. Despite the record-high gas prices that the U.S. is seeing across the country, President Biden made the embargo official on March 8, following calls to do so from lawmakers and much of the American public. A considerable portion of what the U.S. imports for energy needs comes from Russia, averaging the equivalent of 209,000 barrels of crude oil per day in 2021, according to the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers. That accounts for approximately 10% of all of the U.S.' oil imports.

While the U.S.' supply chain will likely feel the effects of the moratoria on seafood and oil in the coming months, any impact from the ban on alcohol will be minimal at most. Only around 1% of the vodka the U.S. received from overseas markets in 2021 came from Russia, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Meanwhile, as Russia is being cut off economically by more countries, the Kremlin is responding in kind. The government said it would no longer ship at least 200 products that it typically exports to Western nations for at least the remainder of 2022, as reported by Supply Chain Dive. Those items include technological, telecommunication and medical equipment.