Reviewed by Michael J Boyle
It’s not a good idea to get on the United States’ bad side. As the wealthiest country in the world, the U.S. also lays claim to the world’s most powerful military.
But when military might isn’t called for, nothing compares to the repercussions that economic and trade sanctions imposed by the U.S. can bring about.
Economic sanctions are a way for large governments to exert their disapproval over one another. While wars are costly, both economically and politically, economic sanctions tend to be somewhat less tangible, at least for the country doing the sanctioning.
For the country being sanctioned, the results can be devastating and long-lasting.
Key Takeaways
- The U.S. tends to sanction countries that violate human rights or sponsor terrorism.
- The U.S. can sanction an entire nation, specific individuals, or entities within a nation.
- The countries with the longest-standing sanctions against them are Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria.
- In February 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden announced economic and trade sanctions against Russia due to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.
- In February 2025, President Donald Trump announced maximum pressure on Iran to restrict its ability to create a nuclear weapon and its state-sponsored terrorism.
Why the U.S. Imposes Sanctions
What does a country need to do to attract U. S. sanctions? Overwhelmingly, the U.S. imposes sanctions on countries that sponsor terrorism or perpetrate human rights violations against their own people and others.
The U.S. also imposes sanctions on countries that threaten its interests, such as with unfair trade practices. Such sanctions are intended to deter bad behavior through economic penalty.
Sanction vs. Tariff
A sanction is a penalty imposed on a target such as a foreign government or individuals to change some aspect of the target’s conduct. A tariff is a tax placed on imported goods.
Countries Sanctioned by the U.S.
U.S. sanction programs can change over time. For updated information on sanctions and sanctioned countries, visit the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control site.
As of February 2025, active U.S. sanctions programs cover the following countries and regions, or companies and individuals within listed countries:
- Afghanistan
- The Balkans
- Belarus
- Burma
- Central African Republic
- China
- Cuba
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Ethiopia
- Hong Kong
- Iran
- Iraq
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Mali
- Nicaragua
- North Korea
- Russia
- Somalia
- Sudan
- South Sudan
- Syria
- Venezuela
- Yemen
Russian Sanctions
Russia/Ukraine
On Feb. 22, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden announced sanctions against Russia in response to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. This aggression included the advancement of Russian troops into two separatist regions of eastern Ukraine.
Initially, the sanctions blocked two state-owned Russian financial institutions, Vnesheconombank and Promsvyazbank and their subsidiaries, which provide financing to the Russian military.
However, on Feb. 24, 2022, sanctions were expanded to include other Russian financial institutions, including the two largest banks, Sberbank and VTB Bank. This action blocked their access to the U.S. financial system.
Sanctions also prohibited U.S. companies and individuals from buying both new and existing Russian sovereign debt in the secondary market.
Russian elites and their families were financially targeted, as well. Export controls were established to block Russia’s importation of technological goods.
Below are details on four of the longest-standing sanctioned nations.
Cuba
One of the U.S.’s longest-lived and best-known sanctions programs involves its neighbor to the south, Cuba.
In February 1959, Fidel Castro became Prime Minister of Cuba, unseating a post-revolution Cuban government that was favored by the U.S. Ironically, the previous Batista regime was defeated in part because of a U.S.-imposed arms embargo.
The U.S. has had trade embargoes in place since Castro seized power. They were intended as a punishment for impeding democratic rule.
While Americans generally aren’t allowed to trade with Cuba or travel to Cuba as tourists, its geographic proximity and the U.S.’s large Cuban-American population have ensured that a number of exemptions exist for various travel purposes.
Some of these purposes include official U.S. government business, humanitarian work, journalistic endeavors, and to visit relatives.
Conducting private sector business is not allowed. Cuba’s tax-free zones might look appealing to U.S. businesses, but the consequences of capitalizing on the opportunities? Not so much.
At the end of 2024, just before leaving office, President Biden removed Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. In January 2025, at the start of his second administration, President Donald Trump replaced it.
Iran
Following the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the Western-friendly Shah of Iran was deposed in favor of a theocratic government.
The Iranian Hostage Crisis and other ensuing events pushed the U.S. to levy a trade embargo on the Middle Eastern nation.
Sanctions persist with increasingly tenuous political relations, the sponsoring of terrorism, and debates over the enrichment of uranium.
In response to Iran’s continuing effort to develop a nuclear weapon as well as the threat of its ongoing terrorist network, in February 2025, President Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum restoring maximum economic pressure on the country to restrict or eliminate such threats.
Iranian economic sanctions continue to be a hotly discussed topic.
North Korea
North Korea is arguably the country most brutally affected by U.S. economic sanctions. North Korea’s battles with the U.S. started in the 1950s with the U.S. entry into the Korean War, a move designed to counter the Soviet Union’s support for a unified, communist Korea.
Technically, North and South Korea are still at war—albeit under a ceasefire since 1953—and the U.S. maintains stringent trade restrictions on the country.
In 2018, with an easing of tensions, South Korean leader Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed the Panmunjom Declaration agreeing to greater cooperation between the two nations.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on North Korea since the Korean War in an effort to establish trade and financial embargoes. The United Nations (UN) also sanctioned the nation.
North Korea continues to ignore U.S. sanctions. In October 2024, it carried out intercontinental ballistic missile tests, following on its first in December 2023. In January 2025, the country conducted tests of short-range ballistic missiles.
In late January 2025, the nation’s leader Kim Jong-un, called for strengthening its nuclear capability during his inspection of a nuclear facility.
Reports indicate that North Korea has also sent troops and weapons to Ukraine to support Russia’s war efforts. Ukraine announced that it had captured some North Korean troops.
Syria
As one of the nations that former UN Ambassador John Bolton referred to as “beyond the axis of evil,” Syria has had contentious relations with the U.S. because of its position as a sponsor of terrorism.
As a result, the U.S. imposed strong trade restrictions on the country, barring major exports and financial services for individuals or organizations linked to terror.
The country’s measures of the standard of living versus the quality of life may seem similar, but the reality is an issue of qualitative versus quantitative.
Syria’s leader, Bashar Assad, was ousted from the country in December 2024. In January 2025, the U.S. relaxed some restrictions imposed on the nation. This was done to allow for the flow of humanitarian aid to the war-torn country as well as energy sales and other business transactions.
While the U.S. hasn’t removed previously imposed sanctions, it is attempting to support the transitional government.
Note
Sanctions that target a country’s political regime can have devastating effects on the lives of its people.
Other Economic Sanctions
Not all of the U.S.’s economic sanctions target entire countries. Some are aimed at specific individuals or entities.
Generally, such sanctions focus on political groups or organizations that promote violence or social unrest. They can also target government or military officials.
For example, under the Global Magnitsky Act, since December 2017, the U.S. has imposed targeted visa restrictions and financial sanctions on “perpetrators of atrocities” in Burma (Myanmar).
Additional sanctions were imposed in 2019 against Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and his deputy General Soe Win.
And in March 2023, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued an alert reminding Americans to abide by the jet fuel sanction imposed on Burma’s military regime.
The military overthrew the duly elected civil government in February 2021 and began conducting air strikes on Burma’s people at schools, places of worship, and cultural events.
The U.S. Treasury maintains a public listing of specific people and organizations that U.S. nationals and organizations are forbidden to do business with.
What Is a U.S. Sanction?
It’s a penalty that’s imposed by the U.S. government to attempt to alter the behavior of a country, group, or individual that runs counter to U.S. interests, including its commitment to supporting human rights and stopping terrorism.
Can Sanctions Be Stopped?
Yes, they can. For example, on Nov. 18, 2021, President Biden terminated the sanctions imposed on Burundi individuals due to the positive behavior that these sanctions effected on members of the Burundi government.
What Are Some Examples of Sanctions?
Some of the various types of U.S. sanctions include trade restrictions, visa restrictions, arms embargoes, and travel bans.
The Bottom Line
Military action isn’t the only option for countries that are in the midst of a political dispute. Economic sanctions provide the U.S. with an immediate alternative to crack down on rogue countries without putting boots on the ground and lives on the line.
