Import Russian diamonds until September 1, 2025

US authorizes import of certain Russian diamonds & jewelry

The United States has authorized the import of certain Russian diamonds until September 1, 2025, according to the updated general license issued by the US Department of the Treasury. 

In particular, the United States authorizes the import of Russian diamonds until September 1, 2025, "provided that the diamonds were physically located outside of the Russian Federation before, and were not exported or re-exported from the Russian Federation since: (1) March 1, 2024 for non-industrial diamonds with a weight of 1.0 carat or greater; or (2) September 1, 2024 for non-industrial diamonds with a weight of 0.5 carats or greater."

The United States has issued a general license allowing the import of diamond jewelry into the country if they were outside the Russian Federation before March 1, 2024 and were not exported or re-exported from the country after this period.

In February, the US government announced that it would ban the import of unsorted rough diamonds and diamond jewelry from Russia from March 1. It also banned the import of non-industrial diamonds from Russia with a weight of 1 carat or greater from March 1 of this year and with a weight of 0.5 carats or greater September 1, regardless of whether they were processed in third countries.

In December 2023, the G7 countries announced the introduction of restrictions on the import of diamonds mined or processed in Russia from January 1, 2024. From March 1, the restrictions also came into force for Russian diamonds that were processed in other countries. In a joint statement, the G7 leaders agreed to establish a robust mechanism for the verification and certification of rough diamonds within the G7 by September 1, 2024.