Bloomberg News reports that the United States added as many as 71 entities based in Russia and Belarus to its list that prevents American companies from doing business with the restricted firms unless a government license is obtained, thereby making restrictions amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine more stringent.
The impacts of this action
This action taken on Thursday increases the number of parties added to the so-called Entity List, which the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security runs to around 322 since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, as revealed in a statement by the BIS.
These restrictions limit the ability of Russia to get the items and the technologies it requires for the sustainability of its military aggression, as stated by Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, Alan Estevez.
Commerce spent months before the invasion of Russia towards the end of February coordinating controls related to potential exports with the global allies to ensure that Moscow would not simply replace or substitute technology exports from another country for those that the United States prevented. The norms are being used to avoid Russia accessing those products used in the defense, maritime, and aerospace sectors.
The department’s efforts have resulted in 37 countries, including Australia, Japan, and European Union’s member nations joining the United States in imposing expansive controls on the things or items they export to Russia.
Bloomberg News reports that since February 24th, when the BIS’s first new rule was put into effect, the total US exports to Russia dropped drastically.
