The US and G7 allies plan to strip Russia of its 'most favored nation' status, enabling tariffs to be imposed on Russian goods, a report says

• The US and its allies plan to make the move to hold Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine.
• Revoking MFN status would mean enable the countries to slap tariffs on Russian goods.

The US, European Union, and Group of Seven countries plan to strip Russia of its "most favored nation" status, Reuters reported.

President Biden will unveil the plans at 10:15 a.m. EST on Friday, the newswire reported, citing a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Revoking Russia's status would allow the US and its allies to slap tariffs on Russian goods, potentially opening up an avenue to apply more pressure to the country's already strained economy.

Biden would announce "actions to continue to hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine," the White House said, according to Reuters, but without providing further details.

The White House did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal US working hours.

The international community has imposed an unprecedented level of sanctions against Russia in recent weeks in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Western powers in particular have levied powerful economic and financial measures against the country.

Sanctions have sought to cut Russia's access to critical cash reserves. Some Russian financial institutions have also been cut from SWIFT, the international payments network considered a pillar of global finance. Foreign businesses, in turn, have scrambled to suspend their Russian operations.

Sources told the agency that individual countries will make the the change to Russia's trading status according to their own protocols. The Group of Seven also includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK.

In the US, removing Russia's "Permanent Normal Trade Relations" (PNTR) status would require an act of Congress, but would likely pass since there have been bipartisan signals of support for the measure, Reuters reported.

On March 8, Biden announced a ban on Russian energy imports, encompassing Russian oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal shipments. The European Commission the same day outlined plans to diversify its gas supplies to reduce EU reliance on Russian natural gas.