MN Ends Formal Trade Relations With Russia: What It Might Cost

MINNESOTA — The United States and its allies took steps Friday to further isolate and sanction Russia for its war on Ukraine, revoking "most favored nation status" and cutting the flow of goods to Russia, some of them manufactured in Minnesota.

The move is on top of Gov. Tim Walz's executive order signed last week that requires state agencies to terminate existing contracts with Russian entities and refrain from entering into future contracts with Russian entities.

Minnesota companies export $76 million in goods annually to Russia, or 0.34 percent of all state exports. Meanwhile the state imports $12 million in goods from Russian-based companies, or 0.04 percent of all imports to Minnesota.

Find statistics on Minnesota's trade partners below, courtesy of data from Michigan State University:

President Joe Biden’s executive order also stopped the import of cocktail party staples like caviar from the Black Sea and other fish and seafood, Russian vodka and other alcoholic beverages, diamonds and other high-end goods.

Also, Biden said, the U.S. and its allies are continuing to add to the names of Russian oligarchs facing sanctions.

“The free world is coming together to confront Putin,” Biden said from the Roosevelt Room of the White House.

Without being specific, Biden said that “Russia would pay a severe price if they used chemical weapons” against Ukraine.

Stripping Russia’s most favored nation status allows the U.S. and its allies to impose crippling tariffs on some Russian imports, further isolating the Russian economy.

The broad shift in trade policy comes as Biden faces pressure at home from a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to end what are known as “permanent normal trade relations” with Russia.

Earlier this week, Biden banned Russian oil and gas products, saying the United States would not subsidize Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.

Biden announced the new sanctions as Russia widened its offensive in Ukraine, striking airfields in the west and a major industrial city in the east, while a huge armored column moved closer to the capital city of Kyiv.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.