The Canadian government on Friday announced restrictions on indirect imports of Russian diamonds weighing 1 carat and above in a coordinated move with other Group of Seven (G7) countries.
The latest restriction adds to a ban on Russian diamonds announced in December and will provide Canadians “additional assurance that the diamonds that they purchase are not supporting Russia’s illegal war,” the Canadian foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Canada has been at the forefront of imposing economic barriers on the Putin Regime since he launched his brutal full-scale illegal invasion of Ukraine, which caused devastating losses to Ukrainians. Along with our allies and partners, we have imposed severe sanctions on the Russian regime, and we will continue to do so to hold Putin and his enablers to account,” said Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly.
Russia is the world’s largest rough diamond producer, with its production valued at more than approximately $4.7 billion in 2022. It is also a significant global exporter of diamonds and diamond products, with the value of its total exports exceeding $5.2 billion in the same year.
Together, G7 countries represent 70% of the world diamond market.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Canada sanctioned Russia’s state-owned Alrosa.
Canada also revoked Russia’s most-favoured nation status, which effectively imposed a 35% tariff on all Russian imports to Canada.
This led to a drastic decrease in the value of all Russian imports, including products that will be subject to this ban, from $327,224 in 2022 to $13,440 for the first eight months of 2023.
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