Biden Has Opportunity to Correct US Sanctions Regime, Report Says
U.S. sanctions under the Trump administration have at times been imposed recklessly, which could permanently alienate allies and lead to less effective sanctions programs, according to a November Atlantic Council report. But the trend can be corrected under the incoming Joe Biden administration, the report said, which should be more patient with its sanctions use, provide a clear “endgame” and strategy for its sanctions programs, and work closer with allies to pressure dangerous actors.
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The report, written by Daniel Fried, the former senior director of the National Security Council for presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, suggests that U.S. sanctions programs are in danger of losing their power under their current use. “Many of the gains achieved through the sanctions policy tool are in danger of unraveling while failing credibility and uneven application are weakening the tool,” the report said.
Although the Trump administration has “gotten some sanctions steps right,” many of its moves have been “uneven” and “uncoordinated,” the report said. “It has been less multilateral, in some cases celebrating the decline or outright abandonment of allied coordination on sanctions,” Fried wrote, adding that U.S. sanctions have also been “incoherent” and “sloppy in execution.”
“In policy making generally, one cannot be greedy or impatient. But Trump is notoriously both, a feature that affects the administration, even when skilled people in it are trying to do the right thing, as is the case with sanctions policy,” the report said.
The report makes several recommendations for the incoming Biden administration under each of the U.S.’s major sanctions regimes. Fried urged Biden to pursue multilateral sanctions against China along with other foreign policy tools, such as “mobilizing” allies to set international standards around trade, intellectual property and investment transparency. To be more effective, Fried said, sanctions should be coupled with multilateral export controls on sensitive technology and said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. should work more closely with its European Union counterpart. “The financial damage done to the United States and the world if the administration attempted to apply Iran-level sanctions on China would be profound,” the report said.
Fried also said Biden should rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which would remove certain sanctions against Iran in exchange for limits on Iran’s nuclear program. Rejoining the deal would allow the U.S. to create “stronger leverage” over Iran alongside its European allies, the report argues, and will eventually help in negotiating a new JCPOA. But Fried also said the U.S. should maintain sanctions against Iran “outside the JCPOA framework,” including designations for terrorism and human rights issues. “The United States needs to keep its expectations under control,” the report said. “Iran is an issue on which incremental progress (and limiting its bad behavior) may be possible but will remain a challenge.”