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A2 us news
Monday 19 august 2019

Trump wields sanctions hammer; experts wonder to what end

By MATTHEW LEE policy, has managed to
AP Diplomatic Writer isolate itself,” he said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Call it Although many administra-
the diplomacy of coercion. tions have relied on sanc-
The Trump administration tions, Trump has used them
is aggressively pursuing with zeal at a cost to the
economic sanctions as a U.S., said Liz Rosenberg,
primary foreign policy tool the director of the Energy,
to an extent unseen in de- Economics and Security
cades, or perhaps ever. Program at the Center for
Many are questioning the a New American Security.
results even as officials insist She was a senior adviser to
the penalties are achieving one of Mandelker’s prede-
their aims. cessors at Treasury during
Since taking office in Janu- the Obama administration.
ary 2017, President Donald Where the U.S. once coor-
Trump has used an array of dinated with Europeans on
new and existing sanctions issues such as counterter-
against Iran, North Korea rorism and nuclear nonpro-
and others. His Treasury De- liferation, Trump’s sanctions
partment, which oversees are often one-sided and
economic sanctions, has do not prioritize partner-
targeted thousands of enti- ships, Rosenberg said.
ties with asset freezes and In this Aug. 15, 2019 file photo, President Donald Trump reacts at the end of his speech at a “This is a brand new reality
business bans. The State campaign rally in Manchester, N.H. that has never been seen
Department has been simi- Associated Press in modern times,” she said.
larly enthusiastic about im- in point. for even broader sanctions. against China and Russia “There are those in Europe
posing its own penalties: It’s rare for a week to go Mandelker, whose office do not. who feel not just harmed
travel bans on foreign gov- by without the administra- is in charge of economic “I don’t see that the U.S. by the United States, but
ernment officials and oth- tion announcing new sanc- sanctions, says sanctions is having any positive ef- also targeted by the United
ers for human rights abuses tions. alone “rarely, if ever, com- fect on Chinese behavior, States.”
and corruption in countries On Thursday, the admin- prise the entire solution to a or for that matter, Russia,” The result is that many
from the Americas to the istration said it would re- national security threat or Haufbauer said. He said countries are less eager,
Middle East, Africa and scind the visas of any crew human rights or corruption this was a “pivot point” in or in fact wary, of signing
Asia. aboard the Iranian tanker crisis.” They must, she said in world economic relations, up for American initiatives,
At the same time, the ad- in Gibraltar. On Wednes- a speech to the Center for with the U.S. losing its lead- particularly when they see
ministration is trying to re- day, Sudan’s former intel- Strategic and International ership role and opening the U.S. retreating in areas
duce greatly the amount ligence chief received a Studies, be accompanied up the possibility for an- such as foreign aid. The
of U.S. foreign assistance, travel ban. Last week, the by other action to push U.S. other nation to pick up the administration is expected
notably cutting money to entire Venezuelan govern- national interests. mantle. Asian countries, to present a plan soon to
Latin America and the Pal- ment was hit. More than Experts say the administra- he said, are deferring to cut as much as $4 billion in
estinians. The White House 2,600 people, companies, tion has not shown great vi- China’s perspective on the economic and develop-
budget office is making ships and planes have sion in adopting strategies U.S., and American allianc- ment aid, drawing wide
plans to return billions of been targeted so far since that do not rely on sanc- es with European nations bipartisan rebukes from
dollars in congressionally Trump took office. tions or separating punitive are being weakened by Capitol Hill. A similar effort
approved but unspent dol- “The daily pace is intense,” foreign policy decisions Trump’s reliance on sanc- was turned aside in 2018,
lars to the Treasury. A similar the treasury undersecre- from purely trade issues, tions. but there are fears it may
effort was rejected by Con- tary for terrorism and finan- such as the spat with the “The U.S., through its trade to come to pass this year.q
gress last year. cial intelligence, Sigal Man- Chinese over tariffs. While
The combination of more delker, said recently. Trump has been reluctant
sticks and fewer carrots has She and proponents of the to punish Russia for med-
created a disconnection administration’s foreign dling in the 2016 presiden-
between leveraging the policy say sanctions are tial election, his administra-
might of America’s eco- working and have denied tion has not relented on
nomic power and effec- Iran and its proxies hun- sanctions for Moscow’s ac-
tively projecting it, accord- dreds of millions, if not bil- tions in Ukraine and human
ing to experts who fear the lions, in dollars in revenue rights issues.
administration is relying too used for destabilizing activ- “President Trump has com-
much on coercion at the ity in the Middle East and pletely conflated eco-
expense of cooperation. beyond. And, they note, nomic sanctions and com-
It also has caused signifi- the U.S. approach does not mercial policy,” said Gary
cant tensions with Ameri- involve the vastly more ex- Haufbauer, a senior fellow
can allies, especially in pensive option of military with the Peterson Institute
Europe, where experts say action. for International Economics
a kind of sanctions fatigue “Overuse of economic who was a senior treasury
may be setting in. The de- warfare is certainly a better official during the Carter
cision this past week by the alternative to the overuse administration. He said that
British territory of Gibraltar of military warfare,” said while that approach might
to release, over U.S. objec- Mark Dubowitz, the chief work with countries such as
tions, an Iranian oil tanker executive of the Founda- Mexico and Guatemala
that it seized for sanctions tion for Defense of Democ- over immigration, trade
violations could be a case racies. He has advocated measures and sanctions