The US "closed the book", G7 officially launched a "blow" on Russian diamonds

On February 8, the US Treasury Department 's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed an import ban on non-industrial diamonds mined in Russia, regardless of whether they have been processed elsewhere.

The G7 and the EU are pushing for a ban on Russian diamond imports. (Source: Bloomberg)

The restrictions, effective from March 1, 2024, will apply to “non-industrial diamonds weighing 1 carat or more” and “from September 1, 2024 to non-industrial diamonds weighing 0.5 carat or more,” The Kyiv Independent reported.

The restrictions previously imposed by the US “will apply to diamonds mined, extracted, or manufactured in whole or in part in the Russian Federation, regardless of whether or not those diamonds have undergone significant processing.”

The ministry noted that the introduction of these bans “aims to implement the commitments that the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized countries agreed in December 2023 to gradually limit the import of diamonds mined or extracted in Russia”.

The United States is the last G7 country to announce this commitment. The G7 countries, which include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom, account for 70% of the world diamond market.

Meanwhile, Russia is the world's largest diamond producer and earned about $4 billion from diamond trade last year .

Along with the G7, the European Union (EU) countries also agreed to ban the import of Russian diamonds under the 12th package of sanctions that the bloc launched in December 2023 and took effect from January 1, 2024.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/my-chot-so-g7-chinh-thuc-tung-don-vao-kim-cuong-cua-nga-260467.html