Germany joins eastern and northern EU member countries in calling to widen tariffs to cover €5.4 billion in Russian exports.
BRUSSELS — Seven EU countries have issued a joint call to impose tariffs on more Russian products and are urging the European Commission to come up with a proposal, a joint discussion document seen by POLITICO says.
The appeal, dated Nov. 4, is supported by Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden and suggests the Commission should propose tariffs on iron and steel, inorganic chemicals and potassium fertilizers. In 2024 these products generated export revenues of €5.4 billion, helping Russia to fund its war on Ukraine.
“This is part of our economic security, and we should be reducing our dependencies,” a senior EU diplomat from one of the countries told POLITICO after being granted anonymity to speak freely on the sensitive discussions. Two diplomats from other EU countries confirmed the push.
European businesses bought €33 billion worth of Russian goods in 2024. Even after stripping out oil and gas, the figure stands at €11 billion, spread across products like iron and steel, nickel, fertilizers, aluminum, fish and machinery.
These purchases are legal because the products are either not subject to EU sanctions or are carved out from them. Tariffing products is controversial in the EU because it doesn't require unanimity, and therefore can't be vetoed by individual countries. Imposing sanctions, on the other hand, requires that all member countries agree.
Germany, the EU’s largest economy, notably swung behind calls by the bloc’s eastern and northern members to get tough on Vladimir Putin’s war economy.
“It is very important that Germany is on board this time,” the senior diplomat said, adding that Berlin’s backing “can maybe turn a few heads in the Commission as well.”
An eighth country might join the coalition, but the push remains controversial. Several EU capitals have an interest in keeping products untariffed so their industries retain access to cheap inputs.
One example is iron and steel. Most of the product categories are sanctioned, but Belgium and Czechia have negotiated an exemption for certain slabs because these countries both host Russian-owned steel plants, as does Denmark.
Other countries are against using tariffs in principle because they argue that such measures belong under sanctions policy. And finally, pro-Kremlin governments in Hungary and Slovakia have a habit of blocking both sanctions packages and other legislation to restrict trade with Russia.
Brussels slapped tariffs on grain and wheat last year and on ammonia-based fertilizers from July.
The European Commission — which under the EU’s decision-making structure should initiate any new tariff proposal — was also sent the letter on Wednesday.
EU ambassadors discussed the letter on Wednesday, and plan to kick the topic up to the bloc’s trade ministers at their next meeting on Nov. 24. If the tariff idea wins broader support by then it would be possible to discuss it with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, who has been invited to the meeting in Brussels.
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