US To Limit Use Of Sanctions In Major Foreign Policy Shift - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2021) The United States plans to hold back on using economic and financial sanctions and vet them more carefully for unintended harm going forward, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Treasury officials.

This marks a major shift in the foreign policy of the US, which has increasingly relied on penalties in recent years to the detriment of vulnerable groups and its ties with allies.

Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Adewale Adeyemo, who led a nine-month audit of the sanctions policy, said the new approach would help "ensure that sanctions remain an effective national security tool," as quoted in the report.

The new interagency vetting process will look into potential impact of economic curbs on financial markets, reaction from allies and other geopolitical fallout to secure international support and reduce channels for their evasion, according to the report.

The officials said that sanctions needed to be better calibrated to remain a critical policy tool, the paper said. One Treasury official reportedly said that sanctions would go through administrative procedures similar to the approval of the use of military force.