Europe hits Russia with new tariffs to hurt its war finances

EU countries gave the nod to additional tariffs on fertilizers and other agricultural goods from Russia and its ally Belarus to cut Moscow’s cash amid the raging war in Ukraine.

The new duties are targeting products unaffected by previous punitive trade measures. They also aim to reduce the bloc’s dependence on Russian imports, seen as undermining its security.

Brussels to tax Russian fertilizers

Member states of the European Union approved new tariffs on some agricultural products and fertilizers imported from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. The adopted regulation will enter into force by July 1, 2025, the Council of the European Union announced Thursday, stating:

“The aim is to reduce EU dependence on those imports as well as to reduce Russian export revenues, thereby limiting its ability to finance its war of aggression against Ukraine.”

The new legislation concerns goods that were not subject to extra customs duties until now, the Council highlighted. The latest trade-restricting measures will apply to items that accounted for around 15% of all agricultural imports from Russia in 2023, its press release detailed.

“In the case of fertilizers, the new tariffs will apply to certain nitrogen-based products,” the EU body said, assuring that the interests of European farmers and fertilizer producers will be protected. To achieve that, the tariffs will be increased gradually over the next three years.

📢 The Council has adopted a regulation on tariffs on agricultural products and fertilisers from Russia and Belarus that were not yet subject to extra customs duties.

The tariffs will reduce Russia's export revenues and limit its ability to finance its war against Ukraine.

👇

— EU Council (@EUCouncil) June 12, 2025

The Council’s approval comes after, in May, members of the European Parliament backed the Commission’s proposal to increase by 50% EU tariffs on agricultural goods such as flour, sugar, vinegar, and animal feed.

The regulation also imposes a 6.5% tariff on fertilizers in addition to duties in the amount of between €40 and €45 per tonne for this year and 2026. These will reach €430 (almost $500) per tonne by 2028 and likely make Russian and Belarusian imports economically unfeasible.

European farmers worried over new tariffs

Farmers across the European Union have expressed fears that the move will raise prices as over a quarter of the bloc’s imports of nitrogen-based fertilizers come from Russia, with more entering from neighboring Belarus, Moscow’s closest political, economic, and military ally.

Quoted by AFP, the European farmers’ group Copa-Cogeca insisted last month that, as production costs have gone up, using Russian fertilizers was “the most competitive in terms of price, due to well-established logistics.”

However, officials in Brussels have been alleging that income from the sale of fertilizers goes directly towards funding Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. They are also concerned that “if left unchecked,” the economic dependence will leave the Union exposed to “coercive measures by Russia.”

Michał Baranowski, Undersecretary of State responsible for trade at the Ministry of Economic Development of Poland, which holds the Council’s rotating presidency, insisted on Thursday that the tariffs increase the EU’s economic security. He was also quoted as stating:

“We are further reducing Russia’s export revenues and therefore its ability to finance its brutal war. This is united Europe at its best.”

Meanwhile, on June 6, the European Union reinstated pre-war duties and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural products. These were waived three years ago, months after Russian forces launched their full-scale invasion in February 2022.

However, keeping Ukraine’s favorable access to the EU market became politically problematic, with a number of European governments facing increasing pressure from farmers and their organizations who have called for stricter controls on Ukrainian imports.

Brussels and Kyiv are now negotiating a new long-term deal which should find the balance between maintaining support for the war-torn nation in its conflict with Russia and adequately addressing the concerns of European farmers over Ukrainian goods, which bring down prices.

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