US bans deliveries of trucks, bearings and 200 other goods to Russia.

The US Department of Commerce has expanded restrictions on the export of manufactured goods to Russia. The ban included deliveries of trucks, ball bearings, engines, lifting devices and about 200 more items. The US Department of Commerce on Monday, May 9, unveiled a new rule that expands restrictions on exports to Russia of a wide range of manufactured goods. These actions are taken to “further limit Russia’s ability to withstand the economic impact of multilateral sanctions, cut sources of revenue that can support Russia’s military capability, and harmonize US export regulations on Russia with European ones,” the document, which officially takes effect May 11, says. . The US authorities are expanding the category of Russian Industry Sector Sanctions (“sanctions against Russian industrial sectors”), which now apply to the export to Russia of US equipment for oil and gas production and oil refining. The list is supplemented with 205 positions at the level of six characters of the harmonized coding system for goods (international classifier). Among them are knives and blades for machines, jet, hydraulic, pneumatic engines, air conditioning units, refrigerators, freezers, fire extinguishers, lifting devices, bulldozers, various machines (printing, ironing, metal-cutting, copying and duplicating, etc.) , various machine tools, industrial robots, bearings (ball, roller), DC/AC motors, power generator sets, transformers, nickel-cadmium batteries, broadcasting and television equipment, vehicles for the transport of goods, trailers and semi-trailers, photo laboratory equipment, geodetic or topographic instruments. The US Department of Commerce will deny exporters or re-exporters of eligible U.S. products the issuance of licenses to ship to Russia, with the exception of export licenses for health and safety or humanitarian goods, which may be approved on a case-by-case basis. The U.S. government filings do not provide estimates of how much normal annual shipments to Russia could be affected by the new restrictions. Yesterday, the administration of US President Joe Biden announced that Washington would issue a new rule restricting the supply of “wooden containers, industrial engines, boilers, motors, fans and ventilation equipment, bulldozers and many other goods with industrial and commercial applications” to Russia. The European Union is “moving in tandem [with the US]” to impose additional restrictions on the export of chemicals “which directly supply the Russian military-industrial complex,” a US administration official said. It is assumed that these goods will also be subject to the “foreign direct product” (FDP) rule, established at the end of February in relation to Russia. These rules mean that US export controls apply to non-US goods that are “a direct product of US technology or software subject to national security controls.” Thus, the effect of restrictions may be wider and extend to certain products manufactured in other countries. In March 2022, exports of American goods to Russia have already decreased by almost five times compared to February, to $101 million, which is the lowest monthly volume since at least the early 2000s. This was the result, among other things, of direct export restrictions, for example, on the supply of aircraft and aviation equipment to Russia. In 2021, deliveries to Russia, for example, of industrial engines amounted to about $120 million, bulldozers – $27 million, ventilation equipment – $49 million, trucks – $68.5 million.