The government of the American president Joe Biden banned the export of a range of consumer products to Russia and added 71 companies to the Commerce Department’s “blacklist” as the G7 announced new sanctions against Moscow.

The bans cover devices that may be used to support the Russian military, even everyday items such as clothes dryers, snow plows and milking machines. Washington believes these items could be used for other purposes, to support Russia’s war machine.

“You can no longer send no contact lenses or sunglasses” said attorney Kevin Wolf, a former Commerce Department official, after reviewing the new rules. “It would be simpler for them to describe the items that are allowed to be exported to Russia,” he added.

Another 69 Russian companies, one from Armenia and one from Kyrgyzstan, entered the “black list”. Among them are companies engaged in aircraft repair, the manufacture of components for tractor and car factories, shipyards and others.

Doug Jacobson, an attorney specializing in trade law, noted that some of the items banned from export are controversial. “A permit is now required to export items such as hearing aids, the armpits, the artificial joints”.

Matthew Axelrod, a senior Commerce Department official, stressed that the US priority is to impose controls on items that contribute to Russia’s development of weapons systems, such as missiles and drones. When a company is found to be circumventing the embargo “we will use every possibility (…) to shut it down,” he added in the statement he issued.