On July 20, 2021, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo held a virtual roundtable discussion with six former U.S. government sanctions leaders from the last three presidential Administrations to discuss the application of U.S. economic and financial sanctions. The roundtable comes as part of a series of discussions Deputy Secretary Adeyemo is leading to review, identify challenges, and improve the use of U.S. sanctions. The goal of this bipartisan meeting is part of the Treasury Department’s commitment that sanctions continue to effectively advance U.S. national security, foreign policy, and economic aims.
A notable takeaway from the group of former sanctions leaders was that U.S. sanctions work most effectively “when employed in the context of a broader U.S. government strategy to address foreign policy or national security threat.” The Deputy Secretary and the group also discussed the importance of calibrating both economic and financial sanctions to limit their unintended impact on U.S. business, foreign partners, and other third parties, including those engaging in legitimate humanitarian activities.
A readout from the meeting is available here.
For more information regarding sanctions and the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), contact our team and see previous posts below.
President Biden Imposes Additional Sanctions on Russia | International Trade Law (cmtradelaw.com)