Trump Authorizes Easing of Certain Syria Sanctions, Export Controls
President Donald Trump on June 30 signed an executive order to remove certain financial sanctions against Syria and authorize the "relaxation" of export controls against the country, part of broader effort to support Syria's "path to stability and peace," the White House said.
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Effective July 1, the order terminates several past Syria-related executive orders that authorized sanctions against the country. Trump also used a waiver outlined in the Syria Accountability Act to authorize the easing of certain export controls in subsection (a)(1) of the law "with respect to items on the Commerce Control List ... only." That subsection prohibits exports of certain items controlled under both the CCL and the U.S. Munitions List, but the order appeared not to waive restrictions for USML items. The order also waived subsection (a)(2)(a) of the law, which prohibits "the export of products of the United States (other than food and medicine) to Syria."
Trump also waived certain sanctions under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act, including "restrictions on the export of national security-sensitive goods and technology under section 307(a)(5) of the CBW Act and on all other goods and technology under section 307(b)(2)(C) of the CBW Act."
The order directs the State Department to review Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism as well as the terrorism designations applied to Syrian paramilitary group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and current Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The agency also will evaluate suspending certain Syria sanctions under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act "either in whole or in part if specific criteria are met." The State Department issued a waiver for those sanctions earlier this year.
The State, Treasury and Commerce departments "are hereby authorized to take such actions, including adopting rules and regulations, as may be necessary to implement this order," it said.
Despite the waivers, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the U.S. will maintain sanctions on former Syrian President Bashar Assad, his associates and other human rights abusers, drug traffickers, people linked to Syrian chemical weapons activities, and Iranian "proxies" with ties to the former regime.
U.S. sanctions against Syria were originally imposed in response to the Assad regime's human rights violations and support for terrorism, the White House said in a fact sheet, but "recent positive changes and actions taken by the Government of Syria, after the fall of the brutal Assad Regime, demonstrate promise for a stable and peaceful future." Removing rhe sanctions will help Syria "rebuild and counter terrorism without empowering harmful actors."
"The world should take notice -- if you want to take meaningful steps towards peace and stability, then the United States is willing to move rapidly to support you," the White House said.
The order comes after Trump's visit to the Middle East in May, when he promised to order the “cessation of sanctions" against Syria (see 2505130061). Soon after, the Treasury Department issued a general license authorizing many transactions that would normally be prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations, except for transactions with the former Assad regime and other specific blocked parties (see 2505230073).
The order didn't specify which types of export-controlled items on the CCL should be relaxed or how those license requirements should change. A Bureau of Industry and Security official in June said the agency was planning to soon loosen some export controls on the country (see 2506100052).