U.S. Imposes More Proliferation Sanctions

The Bush administration in September continued to show that it would not be shy about sanctioning entities suspected of proliferation activities, levying penalties against a Russian entity and a Chinese firm, as well as sanctioning the Chinese government.

Since taking office, the administration has aggressively imposed sanctions at a rate about triple that of the Clinton administration. (See ACT, July/August 2003.) Including these latest sanctions, Washington has penalized foreign companies and individuals 23 separate times this year alone.

On Sept. 16, the United States announced that the Russian firm Tula Design Bureau would be prohibited from receiving aid, signing contracts, or trading in military equipment with the U.S. government for one year due to its sale of advanced conventional weapons to Iran.

Three days later, Washington announced that the Chinese firm China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) would be barred for two years from trading in missile-related goods with the U.S. government because of unspecified missile proliferation activities. The firm will also be prohibited from shipping any items it produces to the United States.

Both the Russian and Chinese companies are repeat offenders. Tula Design Bureau was last sanctioned in September 2002, but NORINCO has already been sanctioned twice this year.

The Bush administration also decided to sanction the Chinese government. Beijing will be barred from importing any goods appearing on the export control list of the 33-member Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) for two years if the import is for China’s development or production of electronics, space systems and equipment, or military aircraft. The MTCR control list includes missiles, their subsystems and components, and related technologies. Similar sanctions were imposed on the Chinese government in September 2001.

The administration also had the option of penalizing the Kremlin but decided not to. In its public statement, the administration explained that providing aid to the Russian government was “important to the national interests of the United States.”