In an escalation of tit-for-tat sanctions over Ukraine, Russia said Wednesday that it would ban agricultural imports from the U.S. and Europe.
A formal list of banned items is expected Thursday, but for Colorado, whatever comes next will pale in comparison to what happened in 2013.
“The Russian market closed to U.S. beef in February of 2013, and that decision predated any of the conflict in Ukraine,” said Joe Schuele, communications director with the U.S. Meat Export Federation in Denver.
In 2012, Colorado producers sold $53 million of meat to Russia, accounting for two-thirds of the dollar value of Colorado exports to Russia that year, according to figures provided by the World Trade Center Denver.
Russia’s stated reason was that it didn’t want meat from animals that had beta agonists added to their feed. The compound, known also as ractopamine, is used to make cattle and pigs leaner.
But the move effectively tore the liver out of the U.S. export market — beef liver, that is. Russians were big importers of that cut, along with hams and chicken thighs and legs.
Colorado’s overall exports to Russia dropped to $52 million last year from $81 million in 2012. Fortunately for beef producers, Japan and Hong Kong relaxed their restrictions around the time Russia’s tightened.
With meat banned, exports of raw hides, skins and leather have become the state’s dominant agricultural export to Russia at $2 million, followed by prepared food items at $687,105 and oil seeds at $322,250.
This year, Russian buyers began importing more vegetables and beans from Colorado, nearly $210,000 worth in the first half of the year, said Karen Gerwitz, president of the WTC Denver.
Russia depends heavily on imported foodstuffs from the West, particularly in larger cities such as Moscow. Food and agricultural imports from the U.S. amounted to $1.3 billion last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with $15.8 billion imported from the European Union.
The U.S. and the EU have accused Russia, which annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March, of fomenting tensions in eastern Ukraine by supplying arms and expertise to a pro-Moscow insurgency, and have imposed asset freezes and loan bans on a score of individuals and companies.
State news agency RIA Novosti quoted Alexei Alexeenko of Russia’s plant and veterinary oversight service as saying, “From the U.S.A., all products that are produced there and brought to Russia will be prohibited.”
Alexeenko also was quoted as saying he thinks all fruits and vegetables from European Union countries also will be banned.
White House spokeswoman Laura Lucas Magnuson decried the move, saying: “Retaliating against Western companies or countries will deepen Russia’s international isolation, causing further damage to its own economy.”
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or twitter.com/aldosvaldi
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
