The Treasury 2021 Sanctions Review

THE TREASURY 2021 SANCTIONS REVIEW

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, economic and financial sanctions (“sanctions”) became a tool of first resort to address a range of threats to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. This tool rests on the formidable strength of, and trust in, the U.S. financial system and currency. At their core, sanctions allow U.S. policymakers to impose a material cost on adversaries to deter or disrupt behavior that undermines U.S. national security and signal a clear policy stance. Treasury’s work on sanctions is conducted in close partnership with other parts of the Executive Branch, in particular the Department of State and the National Security Council, which lead the formulation of the foreign policy and strategic goals that sanctions serve, as well as the Department of Justice. The Department of State also implements certain sanctions authorities in consultation with the Treasury.

Over the last 20 years, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury), in close coordination with the Department of State, has successfully employed sanctions to address various national security challenges, including:

• Preventing Iran from using the international financial system and commercial markets to generate revenue through oil sales and other activities that support its nuclear and ballistic missile proliferation and support for terrorist activities. These sanctions pushed Iran to the negotiating table on its nuclear program in 2015.
• In coordination with U.S. and foreign law enforcement action, freezing2 and seizing billions of dollars in assets from front companies used by the Cali Cartel (at one point the world’s largest drug trafficking organization), culminating in the 2014 dismantling of the cartel and the arrest and imprisonment of its leaders.
• Protecting tens of billions of dollars in Libyan assets from misappropriation by former government officials following civil unrest and the fall of the Qadhafi regime in 2011.
• Designating over 1,600 terrorist entities and individuals since 9/11, targeting, exposing, and undermining terrorist groups and their operations. For example, U.S. sanctions so significantly impaired Hizballah funding streams that in 2019 the organization had to reduce salaries for its military arm and media efforts and publicly solicit donations.