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1 1 (March 18, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goveoql0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Se Informing the Iegislative debate since 191 Updated March 18, 2024 Enforcement of Economic Sanctions: An Overview The United States imposes economic restrictive measures (economic sanctions) on foreign states or non-state actors that engage in objectionable conduct. The sanctions may encompass individuals, sectors, and entities that are financing or otherwise connected to the targeted states or entities. The imposition of economic sanctions, which includes the blocking (freezing) of assets and restrictions on trade to deter financing that conduct, is meant to accomplish foreign policy and national security goals. This In Focus provides a brief overview of how economic sanctions are imposed and enforced. impos ton of Economk Sanctions Most economic sanctions are imposed using authority delegated to the President in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the National Emergencies Act. The President may, upon declaring a national emergency involving any unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, restrict or prohibit a wide range of transactions involving property in which any foreign country or a national thereof has any interest by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Person includes natural persons and entities. During periods when the United States is engaged in armed hostilities or has been attacked by a foreign country or foreign nationals, the President's authority to block and prohibit transactions in designated persons' property is expanded to include confiscation of property. The President may order that the property of any foreign person be confiscated, with title to such property vesting in an agency or person designated by the President. The President may also establish the terms on which the confiscated property may be held or sold, among other things. (Similar authority is available during a declared war under the Trading with the Enemy Act.) To exercise authorities under IEEPA, the President issues an executive order that (1) declares that conditions constitute a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act, (2) designates targeted persons and sets out criteria by which the Secretary of the Treasury or other officials (e.g., the Secretary of State) may designate specific foreign persons who will be subject to the sanctions, and (3) establishes the types of transactions or other prohibitions that shall apply to a designated foreign state or person. For example, Executive Order 14024, related to countering harmful foreign activities of the Government of the Russian Federation, blocks a designee's property within the United States and prohibits any U.S. person from engaging in transactions related to that property. The grounds on which the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may designate individuals under Executive Order 14024 include that the foreign person is a political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality of the Government of the Russian Federation or has engaged in activities that undermine the peace, security, political stability, or territorial integrity of the United States, its allies, or its partners. Based on intelligence and other information, the Department of Treasury (Treasury) or the Department of State may identify specific persons that meet the criteria of the relevant executive orders and statutes. Persons whose assets are blocked and with whom U.S. persons may generally not deal appear on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List). Persons whose assets are not blocked, but with whom certain transactions are prohibited, appear on non-SDN lists, collectively arranged by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in a Consolidated Sanctions List. OFAC administers these economic sanctions programs targeting malign activities in several jurisdictions as well as other types of conduct that are harmful to U.S. national security. Regulations pertaining to the sanctions programs are found in 31 C.F.R. Chapter V. For further information on IEEPA, see CRS Report R45618, The International Emergency Economic Powers Act: Origins, Evolution, and Use. Enforcement of Economic Sanctions Sanctions implementation is shared across the executive branch, primarily among the Department of State, Treasury (through OFAC), the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Justice (DOJ). OFAC If OFAC suspects that a person or entity may be acting in violation of economic sanctions, it may open enforcement proceedings. Based on the evidence, OFAC may issue a finding of no violation, a request for further information, a cautionary letter, a finding of a violation, a finding of a violation with civil monetary penalty, or a criminal referral. Should OFAC have reason to believe that the sanctions violation may be ongoing or recur, it may also issue a cease-and-desist order. Where relevant, OFAC may also revoke, suspend, modify, withhold, or deny licenses to engage in certain transactions. If OFAC imposes a monetary penalty, the amount varies depending on the relevant statutory authority and an evaluation of the circumstances. To calculate the penalty, OFAC first determines the base amount by considering whether the violation qualifies as egregious and whether te

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