Biden passed legislation banning uranium imports from Russia

US President Joe Biden signed a bill approved in Congress on Monday banning uranium imports from Russia, which has already condemned the decision as unfair competition.

“This ban supports the United States’ ongoing efforts to reduce and ultimately eliminate our dependence on Russian uranium for civilian nuclear reactors by banning the import of uranium products from the Russian Federation,” the State Department said in a statement announcing the law today. law, which comes into force on August 12.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in another statement that the new law “restores U.S. leadership in the nuclear sector” and will help “protect the energy sector for future generations.”

The legislation comes hand in hand with approximately €2.521 million in federal funds to stimulate the local uranium processing industry, which Sullivan said sends a clear signal that the United States is committed to long-term growth in the sector.

This goal is in line with multilateral targets that Washington set in December 2023 along with Canada, France, Japan and the United Kingdom to collectively invest some €3,893.6 million to expand the nation’s uranium processing capacity.

In its note today, US diplomacy notes that Russia continues to use its military-industrial base in the war against Ukraine and undermines the international and national security of the United States, including exporting uranium with the participation of subsidiaries of the Russian state-owned company Rosatom. Washington is also a target of sanctions.

“The Russian Federation has also proven through its actions that it is willing to weaponize economic relationships, making continued dependence on Russian uranium products a threat to U.S. energy and economic security,” the State Department said.

Russia has already condemned Washington’s ban, considering it “nothing more than unfair competition and a continuation of the far from hidden and covert policies of the Americans.”

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, on the contrary, said at his daily press conference that this measure would not have serious consequences for Russia, one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of uranium.

“Americans find it difficult to compete with us on the international stage, and as soon as they find it difficult to compete, they are not disgusted by anything, including measures that, in essence, distort, manipulate and violate all the norms and principles of international trade,” he said. .

The ban signed Monday complements another ban imposed by President Biden’s administration on Russian oil imports shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.