In December 2020, new US sanctions came into force. The United States has tightened export controls. The sanctions list includes 45 Russian companies. Among them was the manufacturer of titanium and JSC VSMPO-AVISMA.
But a month later, the United States made adjustments, excluding this Russian enterprise from the"black list". Moreover, the American Boeing immediately hastily signed a contract with VSMPO-AVISMA for the supply of titanium products.
Ill-conceived sanctions
The new restrictive measures came into force only on December 23, 2020, but on January 15, 2021, it became known that the US Department of Commerce excluded two Russian companies from the list of "end military users" who are prohibited from purchasing American goods and technologies.
America was forced to change its decision by the Russian company VSMPO-AVISMA, which is the market leader in titanium products. Introducing new sanctions, the United States for some reason did not think about the fact that the buyers of the company from the Russian Federation are all the major aircraft manufacturers, including Boeing. These restrictions would hit not only Russia, but also the United States.
It is also worth noting that these sanctions themselves were meaningless and useless, since VSMPO-AVISMA does not use American technologies in the production of titanium. In any case, the Russian manufacturer could not be affected by these restrictions in any way.
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| Airplane in front and night sky. |
| Source: pixabay.com |
Hasty retreat
VSMPO-AVISMA was included in the American "black list" because of the existing contracts with the defense industry enterprises of the Russian Federation. But the production process would still remain the same, despite the sanctions. At the same time, American companies could have real problems. It seems that instead of working out a new package of sanctions, the United States simply compiled a list of large Russian enterprises that need to be "punished".
As soon as VSMPO-AVISMA was excluded from the American "black list", the aircraft manufacturer Boeing signed a contract with the Russian manufacturer of titanium. And the contract is long-term.
It is noted that the Russian company will sell titanium forgings to Boeing and its suppliers. They will be used for the manufacture of various aircraft, in particular the 787 Dreamliner, 777, 767 and 737.
The US aviation industry did not survive a month. In the end, manufacturer of titanium from Russia withdrew, realizing that these limitations will cause a serious blow to American companies than in Russian.
Ilya Krugla
