US revises sanctions for Russia deals

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday revised recent U.S. sanctions that had unintentionally prevented American companies from exporting certain consumer electronic products to Russia. The change allows firms to deal with Russia’s security service, which licenses such exports.

The Treasury Department said U.S. companies can now apply to Russia’s Federal Security Service to sell low-level encrypted electronic devices such as cellphones or tablets. Those products had not been intended to be covered by the sanctions, which the Obama administration imposed Dec. 29 after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election.

In pursuit of such applications, Treasury will also allow firms to pay nominal fees of up to $5,000 per year to the FSB. The FSB is the main successor to the Sovietera KGB, but it also holds some regulatory responsibilities.

FSB permission or notification is required by Russian law for encrypted devices to be imported, but such contact was barred under the Obama sanctions.

The technical fix was announced at a politically charged time in Washington. Democrats and Republicans alike are concerned that the Trump administration may move to ease sanctions against Russia while the election meddling allegations remain unresolved and it continues destabilizing actions in Ukraine and Syria.

Treasury officials said shortly after the sanctions were announced, several American businesses and consulting companies began to seek the change, saying their exclusion from the Russian electronics market was an “unintended consequence” of the broader sanctions.

The change does not affect other Obama-era sanctions against Russia.

Later Thursday, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley condemned Russia’s “aggressive actions” in eastern Ukraine, where fighting between government troops and Russia-backed separatist rebels has intensified since the weekend, and warned Moscow that U.S. sanctions imposed after its annexation of Crimea will remain until the peninsula is returned to Ukraine.

Haley said it was “unfortunate” that she had to condemn Russia in her first appearance at the U.N. Security Council, saying “we do want to better our relations with Russia.”