The US has banned the importation of Russian gold, a document from the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) released on Tuesday shows.
“The importation into the United States of gold of Russian Federation origin is prohibited, except to the extent provided by law, or unless licensed or otherwise authorized by OFAC,” the statement published on the Treasury’s website says, noting that the ban comes into immediate effect.
The document specifies that the ban does not apply to Russian gold that was exported outside the country prior to June 28.
It also states that the UK, Canada, and Japan have joined the US ban.
The document names gold as Russia’s “biggest non-energy export,” which is factually incorrect.
According to Moscow, the second biggest export is food. Russian exports of agriculture products were worth around $37 billion in 2021, while gold exports reportedly generated about $15 billion.
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section