The US Department of Commerce has banned the export of household appliances and smartphones to Russia.
Photo: Viktor GUSEYNOV
The European Union has introduced a new package of sanctions against Russia. The United Kingdom and the United States have also announced new restrictive measures. But the Americans were not limited to the ban on the supply of turbines, pumps and other industrial equipment to Russia. The US Department of Commerce has banned the export of household appliances and smartphones to Russia. Thus, the restrictions will affect air conditioners and refrigerators of more than $750, as well as many microwave ovens, dishwashers, printers… However, not all families can boast of having household appliances produced by American companies. But the US decision to ban the supply of smartphones over $300 to Russia and Belarus caused alarm among many. Well, how will iPhones disappear in Russia?
The American company Apple officially left Russia, but fans of Apple devices hardly noticed it. Now iPhones are coming to Russia through parallel import channels, that is, quite officially, although without the formal permission of the manufacturers. Could the decision of the US Department of Commerce affect this flow?
– The irony of the situation is that the Americans have prohibited the importation into Russia from the US of what we normally do not get from the US, but from China. Yes, and the United States itself brings most of these goods from China, said the director of the Institute of the New Society, economist Vasily Koltashov, on the air of Komsomolskaya Pravda radio. – What we need, we get parallel imports. So we don’t have to worry, we won’t run out of vacuum cleaners!
– There were no direct deliveries of iPhones from the USA to Russia, so this decision will not affect the situation, – says Konstantin Ivanov, an analyst at Mobile Research Group. – I do not believe that the US government forces Apple to prescribe in the contracts the prohibition of the sale of its products to third countries. Yes, and one-day signatures have not been canceled. Perhaps the US authorities are piling up restrictive measures just for reporting. It is still difficult to judge whether they will be able to really influence the smartphone market in Russia, but the situation will definitely not change in the coming months.
