The Russian food ban for US, Canadian and EU consumers is certainly going to have an impact – but it will create an even bigger impact for Russia itself. As David Cohen, the Treasury Department undersecretary in charge of economic sanctions explained, “What the Russians have done here is limit the Russian people’s access to food. We don’t do that. Our law doesn’t allow us to do that.”
The EU exported about 11.8 billion euros ($15.8 billion) to Russia last year, which is about 10% of its total agriculture exports. They will feel much of the loss, with Poland, France, the Netherlands and Germany taking the largest hit. As The Daily World article explains,
“The Netherlands send 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion) worth of agricultural products to Russia annually, Germany 1.6 billion euros ($2.1 billion), France 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion) and Poland 1.6 billion euros ($2.1 billion). Poland is Europe’s largest producer of apples; more than half of its production goes to Russia.
President Xavier Beulin of a French farm union said the Russian import ban could affect the country’s fruit and vegetable industry.”
Learn more with the complete article here.
