U.S. House votes to strip Russia’s most favored nation trade status, moving bill to Senate

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., conducts her weekly news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center where she addressed the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, March 17, 2022.

The House voted Thursday to strip Russia of its protected trading status, which will allow the US to impose new taxes on more of its goods.

The measure has wide support in the Senate as the U.S. and its allies move to do more damage to Russia's economy. The move was endorsed by President Joe Biden last week.

The House passed the measure by a wide margin. The bill would strip most favored nation status for Belarus, a close ally of Russia.

If the U.S. removed Russia's trade status, the country would be able to impose new taxes on a range of Russian goods. The European Union and G-7 allies have begun to take steps toward suspending normal trade relations with Russia, thanks to the White House.

The U.S. tried to punish the Russian economy with a range of sanctions and bans on imports of products such as oil, liquor and seafood.

The Biden administration has tried to weaken Russia's economy and offer defense assistance to Ukraine in order to deter the invasion. Russia's military has attacked Ukrainian cities for three weeks, and civilian deaths have mounted as Putin's forces try to encircle the capital of Ukraine.

You can subscribe to CNBC on the internet.