US Lowers Cap on Russian Luxury Good Export Sanctions From $1,000 to $300 - Commerce Dept.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is lowering the value cap for items considered luxury goods under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) from $1,000 per unit wholesale price to $300, according to a rule filing in the Federal Register.

"In reviewing our allies’ value threshold exclusions, BIS determined that the EAR’s $1,000 Per Unit Wholesale Price in the US dollar value exclusions for clothing and shoes was more permissive than those adopted by our allies. Therefore, to align more closely with allies’ value exclusion thresholds, with which BIS agrees, this rule reduces the dollar value threshold for clothing and shoes from $1,000 to $300 per Unit Wholesale Price," the filing said on Thursday.

For numerous other luxury goods, the rule adds $300 per unit wholesale price exclusion, although some items will have a higher cap, the filing added.

Automobiles, for example, will have a $50,000 per unit wholesale price value exclusion threshold.

Luxury goods requiring a license for export, reexport and transfer to/or within Russia or Belarus pursuant to the rule include raw silk and other textiles, lifejackets, porcelain, watches and art in excess of the value limits.

The Biden administration in March first imposed export sanctions on luxury goods to individuals in Russia as part of its response to Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine. The measure was intended to target items frequently purchased by Russian elites.