BUSINESS GROUP DECRIES U.S. UNILATE

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: BUSINESS GROUP DECRIES U.S. UNILATERAL ECONOMIC SANCTIONS

FILE ID:97030403.ECO
DATE:03/04/97
TITLE:04-03-97  BUSINESS GROUP DECRIES U.S. UNILATERAL ECONOMIC SANCTIONS

TEXT:
(NAM says sanctions cost jobs and are ineffective)  (780)
By Jon Schaffer
USIA Staff Writer

Washington -- U.S. unilateral economic sanctions have cost U.S.
businesses jobs, put at risk numerous U.S. investments and are rarely
effective, says the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).

"Our economic sanctions are a massive patchwork of good intentions
with bad results," NAM President Jerry Jasinowski said in unveiling a
study commissioned by the U.S. business group. "Unilateral sanctions
are little more than postage stamps we use to send messages to other
countries at the cost of thousands of American jobs."

The report shows that "it is difficult to argue that any of the 61
measures authorized over the past four years have changed the behavior
of the 35 targeted governments," Jasinowski said.

The report, "A Catalog of New U.S. Unilateral Economic Sanctions for
Foreign Policy Purposes 1993-1996," was produced by Professor Barry
Carter of Georgetown University and released March 4.

The study comes amid considerable opposition by important U.S. allies
to the Helms-Burton law targeting foreign companies and individuals
for sanctions if they traffic in property confiscated from U.S.
citizens in Cuba. The European Union has filed a case in the World
Trade Organization challenging Helms-Burton.

The departments of State and Commerce declined to comment on the NAM
report.

The study said that during the 1993-1996 period, 61 U.S. laws and
executive actions were enacted authorizing unilateral economic
sanctions for foreign policy purposes. Most of the actions did not
involve embargoes and some included directions to vote against loans
from international financial institutions.

Of the unilateral measures adopted over the four year period:

-- 22 were adopted to promote human rights and democratization and 13
countries were specifically targeted: Angola, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Burma, Burundi, China, Croatia, Cuba, Gambia, Guatemala, Haiti,
Nicaragua, Nigeria and Yugoslavia. Sanctions were also imposed against
companies in Canada, Italy and Mexico due to prohibited activities in
Cuba under the Helms-Burton Act.

-- Anti-terrorism was the focus of 14 laws or executive actions, the
report said. These measures targeted eight countries, including Cuba,
Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nicaragua, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.

-- Nine measures were adopted to prevent nuclear proliferation, with
China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Pakistan specifically targeted.
Third-party countries who trade and invest with Iran and Libya were
also targeted.

-- Eight measures were adopted to promote political stability,
particularly in Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda, the
New Independent States of the former Soviet Union (including Russia),
Yugoslavia and Zaire.

-- Eight anti-narcotics measures were targeted against Afghanistan,
Burma, Colombia, Cuba, Haiti and Nigeria and two measures were
targeted against any third-party country engaged in prohibited
dealings with Cuba.

-- Six unilateral sanctions measures were adopted to promote worker
rights or the prevention of prison labor, with China, the Maldives,
Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
specifically targeted.

-- Three measures were adopted targeting Brazil, China and Taiwan over
environmental protection issues.

The report provides little aggregate data on the economic effects of
the sanctions, instead including a few case studies of jobs lost to
individual U.S. firms as a result of the sanctions. It said that
foreign manufacturers are eager to fill the void left when American
companies are denied the opportunity to export. Only in a handful of
the 35 countries covered in the report could an arguable claim be made
that the sanctions changed the behavior of the targeted government,
the report said. "They have yet to topple a targeted government. They
provide an external scapegoat for well-entrenched regimes to
compensate for domestic failings. Once launched, they are extremely
difficult to terminate."

The report also stressed that U.S. businesses are increasingly viewed
as unreliable. "Foreign companies and governments are understandably
reluctant to enter into any longer-term commercial relationship with
U.S. companies if the threat of sanctions looms."


The report makes the following specific recommendations:

-- Before considering economic sanctions, the United states should
pursue diplomatic, political and military isolation alternatives that
more effectively target a country's unique vulnerabilities. Except in
the most unusual and extreme circumstances, all sanctions should be
multilateral.

-- If unilateral sanctions are considered, they should meet specific
criteria relating to effectiveness, availability from foreign
suppliers and enforceability. Provision should also be made for such
measures to lapse absent reauthorization by Congress, or be waived if
the president determines that it is in the national interest.

-- The U.S. government should produce an annual report on all
unilateral sanctions, analyzing both the impact on the targeted
government and on U.S. companies.