Economic Sanctions

Economic sanctions are financial and trade restrictions used by the U.S. government to influence foreign policy and protect national security. These measures target individuals, companies, and countries whose actions conflict with U.S. interests, applying pressure without military force. Sanctions include freezing assets, restricting trade, blocking financial transactions, and denying access to U.S. markets, and they are enforced by agencies like the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

How Sanctions Work

The tools behind sanctions involve asset freezes, travel bans, export controls, and financial restrictions. The government maintains lists such as OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and The Denied Persons List, which identify individuals and entities barred from business. These tools help policymakers apply economic pressure on foreign governments and actors without direct conflict. Learn more in How U.S. Economic Sanctions Work: Tools, Targets, and Trade-offs.

Types of Sanctions

Sanctions vary from targeted actions against specific sectors, companies, or individuals to broad embargoes that halt nearly all trade with a country. The distinction between sanctions and embargoes is important: targeted sanctions aim to pressure only those responsible, while embargoes impose wider economic restrictions. More details are available in The Differences Between Sanctions and Embargoes.

Examples and Effectiveness

Sanctions play a crucial role in U.S. foreign policy, such as in relations with Iran—tracing their history from allies to adversaries in U.S.-Iran Relations. In Venezuela, sanctions intersect with geopolitical risks as discussed in Venezuela Regime Change. The ongoing debate about their impact is explored in Do Economic Sanctions Work?, which weighs their success in changing behavior against the humanitarian costs.