March 30 – Global restrictions on exports to Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine have shut down an automaker, halted work on tanks and blocked a Russian computer maker’s access to circuits used in communications equipment, a US said official on Wednesday.
“Thirty-three countries have come together with an export control strategy,” said Thea Kendler, assistant secretary for export administration at the Department of Commerce.
“Necessity brought together this unprecedented collaboration on export controls and other policies that have a significant impact on Putin’s war.”
While only about 5% of Russian imports came from the United States, Kendler said, adding that the European Union and other coalition countries accounted for about 50% of Russian imports.
Export controls are never expected to have an immediate impact, she said, but noted that the Ukrainian government reported that Russia’s two major tank plants had halted work due to a shortage of foreign components. Baikal Electronics, a Russian semiconductor company and computer maker, has been cut off from integrated circuits to support its surveillance, servers and other domestic communications equipment, she added.
Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, has exited the Russian market, cutting off the Moscow Center for SPARC Technologies (SPN.AX) access to Elbrus chips, which are widely used in Russian intelligence and military systems, she said. Lada halted car production because it was deprived of parts and supplies needed by export controls, she added.
Renault (RENA.PA), which controls the company that makes the Lada, said it would cease operations at its Moscow plant while considering options for its majority stake in Avtovaz AVAZI_p.MM, the country’s No. 1 automaker. checks. Continue reading
Renault did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither does TSMC. Baikal Electronics, SPARC Technologies’ Moscow center and Russian tank manufacturer UralVagonZavod could not be immediately reached for comment.
Kendler said she and other US Treasury and Commerce officials have traveled to London, Brussels, Paris and Berlin to bring the coalition together, and detailed talks are also being held with Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
“I expect to announce more like-minded export control countries soon,” she said.
Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Edited by Chris Sanders and Sandra Maler