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Disruption of communication: Canadian authorities prohibit business from any interaction with the Russian Federation
Ottawa effectively prohibits Canadian businesses from interacting with Russian counterparties, Russian Ambassador to the country Oleg Stepanov told Izvestia. According to him, due to the actions of the Canadian authorities, the trade turnover between the countries has decreased to $98 million. According to analysts, in the future, Ottawa may completely stop trading with the Russian Federation. Against this background, the US Congress returned to consideration of the bill on the introduction of prohibitive tariffs against Moscow's main trading partners. The expert community considers the application of this initiative an unlikely scenario, since it will provoke the destruction of supply chains and a sharp increase in inflation in the United States itself. The purpose of the bill is to exert pressure against the background of the approach of a new round of negotiations on Ukraine.
Why do the Canadian authorities ban trade with Russia
Despite the continuation of the negotiation process to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, the Western camp continues to impose anti-Russian sanctions. At the same time, the space for restrictions is rapidly running out. Therefore, the West is moving towards increasing duties and imposing bans in areas where trade is still ongoing, and is also considering imposing tariffs against Russia's main economic partners.
The Canadian authorities actually prohibit their business from interacting with Russian counterparties in any form, Russian Ambassador to Ottawa Oleg Stepanov told Izvestia.
— The Canadian authorities consistently and purposefully continue to put pressure on their own economic operators, de facto prohibiting any form of interaction with Russian counterparties. Entrepreneurs are being intimidated by equating any business contacts with Russia to "supporting the aggressor," the diplomat stressed.
Back in 2022, Ottawa set a course to curtail bilateral trade and economic cooperation, and Russian goods began to be subject to a duty of 35%. In the middle of last year, the government of Mark Carney imposed restrictions on about 1,000 items from Russia. As a result, trade between Russia and Canada decreased from $2.2 billion in 2021 to $98 million in 2024, the Russian ambassador to Ottawa said.
— Everyone in our country, of course, understands that the "maple" sanctions are a fiction. They have no practical effect. This is a kind of political posturing aimed at a part of the internal audience and a demonstration of solidarity within the framework of the Western Russophobic club. We already have a deep freeze in our bilateral relations. The responsibility for the consequences of this short—sighted policy lies entirely with the leadership of Canada," Oleg Stepanov said.
Russian exports to Canada in the first ten months of last year amounted to $55 million, with almost half of this amount coming from components for the aerospace industry, and a third from radioactive elements and isotopes. It is not always easy to replace such goods simultaneously without certain economic damage. In turn, 44% of Canadian exports to Russia are pharmaceutical products, and about 40% are hatching eggs and genetic material from cattle," Evgeny Khoroshilov, head of the Economic Research Department at the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISKRAN), said in an interview with Izvestia.
— If desired, Canada will be able to completely stop trading with Russia in the foreseeable future. However, given the meager current trade turnover, this step will be more symbolic than practical," the expert believes.
In addition to sanctions and tariffs, Ottawa is an active supporter of the confiscation of Russian assets. Canada is guided by Brussels in this matter, but the European Commission's attempt to use the frozen assets of the Russian Federation to issue a loan to Ukraine failed last December due to disagreement within the EU itself.
According to Oleg Stepanov, this topic periodically comes up in Canada in political statements and in the form of specific legislative initiatives. The Canadian Senate is considering a bill that, if adopted, will allow the confiscation of foreign assets without a court decision for "violating peace and security."
— Such legal novels represent attempts to legalize the unilateral seizure of other people's property under a political pretext. They violate the basic principles of State immunity and legal certainty. This is causing discussions even within the local political establishment. The Canadian authorities themselves don't seem to understand if they have anything other than a desire in this context. They are, of course, excited by the predatory dreams of the European Commission. But our assets are not in Canada," said the Russian ambassador to the country.
The fate of the AN-124 aircraft, which was detained in Toronto in February 2022, remains an important topic in relations between Moscow and Ottawa. Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand announced plans to transfer the plane to Ukraine as "compensation for damage." The Russian authorities consider Canada's actions illegal.
Will Trump apply tariffs against Moscow's trading partners
Trade restrictions are being discussed not only in Canada, but also in the United States. Last year, a bill was submitted to the US Congress on 500% duties on imports from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other products. For a long time, the document was not considered, but in January the initiative became relevant again.
"After a very productive meeting with President Trump today on a number of issues, he approved a bipartisan bill on sanctions against Russia, which I have been working on for several months with Senator [Richard] Blumenthal and many others," Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the authors of the document, said on January 7 (listed as a terrorist and extremist by Rosfinmonitoring).
The main proponents of the law explicitly name China, India and Brazil as the main targets. The bill gives the President of the United States the opportunity to impose duties on all goods and services imported from these countries. According to Graham, the initiative is supported by about 80 senators, and it is planned to be considered in the coming weeks.
According to Evgeny Khoroshilov, it will be difficult for Washington to use this tool in practice against China or India. The 500 percent duties will be actually prohibitive, and a strong reduction in Chinese or Indian imports will hurt the United States itself, disrupting supply chains and provoking a powerful surge in inflation.
"It is significant that, having introduced increased duties against Brazil and India some time ago, the United States was forced to withdraw most of the goods imported from these countries," the expert noted.
Recall that in August, Donald Trump had already imposed tariffs of 25% and then 50% against New Delhi in order to force India to abandon purchases of Russian oil. However, the authorities of the republic did not comply with the demands of the United States and retained purchases of raw materials from the Russian Federation.
Dmitry Volodin, a leading researcher at ISKRAN, noted in an interview with Izvestia that this bill is a lever of pressure on Russia in the context of ongoing negotiations between the Russian Federation and the United States on the Ukrainian issue. In addition, it is a means of putting pressure on China and India, the key importers of Russian oil, so that they can also influence Moscow and help the Trump administration conclude a deal with Russia on the Ukrainian issue. The expert doubts that Washington will decide to apply duties of this size against the world's largest economies.
Meanwhile, the negotiation process continues. Special envoy of the US President Steve Witkoff and son-in-law of the American leader Jared Kushner are planning to arrive in Moscow for a new round of dialogue.
— The existing channels for communication with the American negotiators continue to work. This dialogue is ongoing. As soon as the dates are agreed, we hope such a visit will take place," said Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation.
Special Envoy of the President of the United States Stephen Witkoff and son-in-law of the President of the United States Jared Kushner in Moscow
Earlier, Donald Trump said that a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine with the mediation efforts of the United States has not yet been achieved, and Vladimir Zelensky is to blame for this. Kiev continues to delay the negotiation process, relying on the support of the EU and the UK. However, even there, they are gradually coming to understand that Ukraine will have to make concessions, including territorial ones.
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