China has reinstated tariffs on coal imports from the start of this year in what could be a blow to Russian exporters.

The levies, Bloomberg notes in a report, were removed in May 2022 to avoid a supply crunch amid a surge in coal demand. Russia, as one of the biggest suppliers of the commodity benefited from the tariff-free regime thanks to China’s appetite for coal.

Following the tariff removal, Russian grew to become China’s number-two coal supplier with the two countries planning annual imports to reach 100 million tons, which may have already happened in 2023.

Yet China also has a large domestic coal industry that the tariffs seek to protect. Domestic production has been growing, with the first three quarters of last year seeing a 3% uptick in total output even as imports rose, too.