The U.S. believes that the activities of JSC Experimental Design Bureau Innovator and JSC Federal Research and Production Center Titan Barricades run contrary to the U.S. national security interests.

On December 19, 2017, the U.S. Department of Commerce blacklisted two Russian defense companies JSC Experimental Design Bureau Innovator and JSC Federal Research and Production Center Titan Barricades.

According to the notice, the United States determined that the activities of these companies run contrary to the interests of U.S. national security and foreign policy. The two companies got sanctioned because they produce ground-based cruise missiles, the range of which falls within the prohibitions of the Treaty on Intermediate and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty.

The Department of Commerce has imposed an export licensing regime for all U.S. products exported to the two Russian companies. The restrictions also apply to third- country products containing U.S. components.

Earlier JSC Innovator and JSC Titan Barricades were sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control within the U.S. Treasury Department. The two entities were on a list of 39 Russian enterprises of the military-industrial complex compiled by the U.S. Department of State. U.S. diplomats came up with the list in line with the mandates of the Russian sanctions bill that the U.S. Congress passed in late July. On August 2, 2017, President Donald Trump signed the sanctions measure, which was styled as Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.

The law provides for tougher unilateral restrictive measures in relation to Russia, Iran and North Korea, admonishing American and foreign companies about the perils of entering into any cooperation agreements or contracts with Russian companies and institutions from the defense and intelligence sectors.