Business says no to sanctions

[ausgeo@xxxxxxx]

Asia Times News

Business says no to sanctions

2nd July 1997


A group of business advisors to United States President Bill Clinton has 
recommended restricting the use of unilateral US economic sanctions and 
eliminating extraterritorial sanctions and secondary boycotts. 

The report from the President's Export Council, released at a council 
subcommittee meeting on June 30, reflects unhappiness among many US exporters 
with the burst of sanctions passed by Congress over the past two years aimed 
at Cuba, Iran, Libya, Burma, Sudan and other countries. 

According to the report, unilateral sanctions cost US business not only 
directly by prohibiting specific transactions, but also indirectly by 
encouraging foreign competitors and by tainting the reliability of US 
suppliers. A recent econometric analysis estimated the value of lost exports 
in 1995 at between US$15 billion and US$19 billion, affecting from 200,000 to 
250,000 export-related jobs. 

Besides eliminating extraterritorial sanctions, the report also recommends a 
number of other restraints on unilateral sanctions, including a list of 
conditions for imposing them in the first place and a target date for ending 
them if they have not achieved their objective.