Raimondo, speaking at an annual Commerce
Department conference, also said that controls placed on Russia's aerospace
sector were hammering its ability to generate revenue and support military
aviation.
"Russia may be forced to ground
between half and two-thirds of its commercial aircraft in the next four years
in order to cannibalize them for spare parts," she added.
The remarks came a day after U.S. President
Joe Biden's administration added five companies in China to a trade blacklist
on Tuesday for allegedly supporting Russia's military and defense industrial
base, flexing its muscle to enforce sanctions against Moscow.
The United States has worked with allies to
punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion, which Moscow calls a
"special operation", by sanctioning a raft of Russian companies and
oligarchs and adding others to a trade blacklist.
While U.S. officials had previously said
that China was generally complying with the restrictions, Washington has vowed
to closely monitor compliance and rigorously enforce the regulations.
On Wednesday, Raimondo also doubled down on
threats to "shut down" China's top chipmaker SMIC if it is found to
be supplying chips to Russia.
"What if SMIC or other Chinese-based
semiconductor companies are found supplying chips to Russia?" she said.
"We will shut them down and we can, because almost every chip in the world
and in China is made using U.S. equipment and software and I intend to make
good on that commitment if it's necessary."