The Anti-Russia Sanctions Will Unleash ‘an Earthquake Like Never Seen Before’

March 16,, 2022 (EIRNS)—“An earthquake like never seen before” is the characterization of the impact that the anti-Russia sanctions will have on the global economy, an article in RT observed yesterday. They report that the Belt and Road rail lines linking China with Europe—most of which pass through Russia or Ukraine—are already being hard hit.

“The China-Europe rail freight route that goes through Russia was seeing a boom last year due to congestion in major ports,” RT reported,

“but now is suffering mounting cancellations from European clients. Sanctions on Russia are starting to wreak havoc on global trade, analysts say, pointing to devastating consequences for international importers.... Hundreds of tankers and bulk carriers have been diverted away from the Russian and Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea. Stranded at ports and at sea, the carriers are unable to unload their cargoes as a result of sanctions.”

RT further wrote that “experts say the Ukraine crisis and sanctions-caused strains could have an ‘earthquake like never seen before’.... The global movement of goods and services will never be the same again.” RT emphasized the wave of inflation that has already struck the West, with rates already at a nearly 40-year high. “Russia is a leading exporter of commodities, including grains, crude oil, natural gas, coal, all metals, minerals, rare earths, wood and plastics—all used worldwide in a range of products and by a multitude of industries from steelmakers to cars to electronics.”

The article concludes by assessing that Russia has already “banned exports of telecom, medical, auto, agricultural, electrical, and tech equipment, among other items, until the end of 2022. In total, more than 200 items were included on the export suspension list, which also covered railway cars, containers, turbines, and other goods. If Russia decides to cut off oil and gas supplies to Europe, energy prices would skyrocket and the region’s economy would plunge into recession.”

Russia’s export bans for the moment are hitting friend and foe alike. They have banned grain exports to the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), in order to ensure domestic supplies. Late March 14, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree that “Russia will not export wheat, rye, barley and maize to neighboring EAEU states until June 30,” according to RT.

“The world’s largest wheat exporter, Russia, has seen its foreign sales plunge by nearly a third since the beginning of the 2021-2022 agricultural year (July 1, 2021) to March 10, due to a poor harvest, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Monday [March 14]. The country’s overall grain exports also dropped, with barley deliveries dwindling by 34.7% to 2.9 million tons, and corn shipments falling by 21.7% to 1.8 million tons.”