US buyers are demanding guarantees that the polished diamonds they buy in India “were not mined in Russia,” according to news reports quoted by IDEX Online.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the US has banned the purchase of rough, gem-quality diamonds from Russia. It has not outlawed stones that are cut and polished elsewhere, but, according to manufacturers in Surat, “US clients are threatening to cease trading with them if they sell polished diamonds that originated in Russia.”
Indian diamond trader Naimesh Pachhigar told New Indian Express: “The US government has issued a circular to local American traders asking them to check the origin of diamonds before buying or selling them. The circular states that if the origin of the diamonds is Russia, then don’t accept them.”
Dinesh Navadiya, Gujarat region chairman of the GJEPC (Gem Jewellery Export Promotion Council) is also quoted: “American buyers have refused to buy finished diamonds that started as raw ones mined in Russia.”
