U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said some Chinese companies would also face sanctions that cut off supply chains if they ignored U.S. export restrictions on Russia and continued to supply Russia.
According to foreign media reports, on Tuesday (March 8) local time, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo issued a warning in an interview that for "Chinese companies that do not comply with U.S. export control measures against Russia," The U.S. will cut off the supply of U.S. equipment and software it needs to make its products.”
Screenshot of the New York Times report
Following the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, governments in the European Union, the United States and other countries have introduced sweeping sanctions and export controls. Among them, export control measures include prohibiting the sale of designated high-tech products to Russia and Belarus, embargoing technologies and products such as semiconductors, computers, telecommunications, information security equipment, lasers and sensors, including TSMC, GF, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm and other chips Manufacturers have also announced that they will stop supplying to Russia.
U.S. export control regulations apply not only to U.S. companies, but also to companies anywhere in the world that use U.S. software or technology to manufacture products, including many Chinese companies.
In an interview with the media on the 8th, Raimondo claimed that Chinese companies that continue to supply Russia will face "severe punishment."
Analysts believe that after the United States closed the chip "door" to Russia, Russia is likely to set its sights on China. At present, about 70% of Russia's computers and mobile phones are imported from China, and the cooperation between China and Russia in the field of electronics has always been very close.
Raimondo pointed out that Russia will certainly turn to other countries for assistance in dealing with our sanctions and export controls. But if the U.S. finds out that some mainland Chinese semiconductor companies are selling their chips to Russia, the U.S. can "essentially" shut down these companies "because we will cut off the U.S. equipment and software they need to produce."
Raimondo also said that if the United States takes action against "Chinese companies that do not comply with control measures", it will cause a "devastating blow" to China's ability to produce chips.
VTB (VTB)
Develop RMB deposit business!
After the U.S. Minister of Commerce announced the news on March 8, RIA Novosti reported on the 9th that the Russian Foreign Trade Bank (VTB) released news that the bank has launched RMB deposit business since March 9, with the highest The annual interest rate is 8%.
According to the news, "VTB has provided customers with RMB deposit business since March 9, with a maximum annual interest rate of 8%. Through the 'VTB Online' service, the business of using this new currency deposit can be opened remotely, with a minimum deposit of 8%. The deposit amount is 100 yuan. The minimum deposit required by the individual business offices of the Russian Foreign Trade Bank is 500 yuan.”
VTB also said that the new business will become the "most favorable option" for foreign exchange deposits. "In the context of the (ruble) falling against the dollar and euro, many customers have become interested in using other foreign exchange deposits, and the renminbi is one of the most promising options for allocating funds available."
Earlier on March 6, according to Turkish TV channel A Haber: "Turkish President Erdogan had a phone call with Putin, and the whole phone call lasted about an hour." According to the report, during the phone conversation , Erdogan said that Turkey and Russia can use "dollars, euros, rubles, gold and renminbi" for settlement in trade.
Several Russian banks join China
CIPS system!
Many netizens have discussed before that, after Russia is sanctioned, can it be settled with China or with other countries in RMB?
In terms of trade volume, China is Russia's largest import and export country.
The dollar share of Russia's foreign exchange reserves fell to 16.4% from 45.8% in 2017, while the share of renminbi reserves rose from 2.8% to 13.1%. At the same time that Russia was excluded from the swift clearing system, Russia announced that many banks would join China's CIPS payment system.
Some experts believe that under such a large trade volume or investment scale, if the major currencies cannot be settled in the US dollar and the euro, other suitable alternative currencies must be found, and the renminbi is obviously the most suitable alternative.
Now in the context of Russia being sanctioned by Europe and the United States, a number of Russian companies have announced that they will use RMB for settlement. This shows that the renminbi has its own advantages and potential for use in the Russian market, and also shows that China and Russia have made positive progress in promoting the diversification of bilateral trade settlement, and the role of the local currency as a means of payment is gradually increasing!
The development of RMB deposits by VTB is also beneficial to the RMB, which will further accelerate the process of RMB internationalization. Although the US dollar is still the most important settlement and reserve currency in the world, in the future, more countries and regions around the world will use RMB for settlement and carry out RMB foreign exchange deposits, which will help the RMB to go further into the world.
