What Exactly is an Embargo?
An embargo is a trade restriction typically adopted by a government, a coalition of countries, or an international organization as an economic sanction. Embargoes can halt all forms of trade or may target specific sectors, like arms imports. They are strategically deployed to punish and deter countries from sustaining policies considered objectionable.
Key Highlights
- Embargoes are international trade restrictions responding to contentious policies.
- Historically, embargoes have largely succeeded in penalizing targeted nations rather than altering their policies.
- Notable U.S. embargoes impact Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Syria; there are also trade restrictions on Russia and regions under Russian control in Ukraine.
- The Arab oil embargo of 1973-1974 affected the U.S. in retaliation for its support for Israel.
How Embargoes Function
Countries resort to embargoes as a non-military means to address and dissuade particular behaviors, often in reaction to human rights abuses or armed conflicts. When widely observed, embargoes can isolate the targeted country and cut off its benefits from international trade.
Nations heavily dependent on global trade and technological imports are particularly vulnerable to such restrictive measures. However, certain authoritarian regimes have endured embargoes for years, paying the significant price of decreased living standards.
Spotlight on U.S. Trade Embargoes
The U.S. has enforced long-term, extensive trade embargoes on countries like Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Syria due to their controversial policies. These embargoes are enforced through a combination of legislative acts and executive orders.
Under the Trading With the Enemy Act, the U.S. president has the authority to enforce embargoes during wartime. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act empowers the president to impose trade restrictions during declared national emergencies. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a segment of the U.S. Treasury Department, manages these embargoes and spearheads efforts to blockade funding sources for terrorist and drug-trafficking activities.
Consequences of Embargoes
Embargoes seldom bring about significant policy changes in target nations or their governments. For instance, despite the long-standing U.S. embargo on Cuba since 1962, the communist leadership remains intact and intolerant of dissent.
Similarly, the oil embargo by Arab OPEC members during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War didn’t cease U.S. support for Israel either. However, embargoes can effectively penalize targeted countries. The 1973-1974 Arab oil embargo generated fuel shortages and increased gas prices, complicating U.S. foreign policy tasks.
In the 1980s, limited trade sanctions against South Africa, alongside investment and economic sanctions from various countries including the U.S., accelerated the dismantling of apartheid. Restrictions on Russia post its 2014 invasion of Ukraine initially failed to deter further aggression but have contributed substantially since 2022 by cutting off supplies vital for the Russian military.
The recent sanctions campaign against Israel by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, aiming to mimic the South Africa model, sparks significant opposition, reflecting the potential stakes involved.
Critique of Embargoes
Embargoes often draw criticism for their indirect impact on innocent civilians, who suffer due to policies they neither influence nor enforce. For instance, the economic embargo on Iraq post its 1990 invasion of Kuwait disproportionately harmed the most impoverished and ill-stricken Iraqis. Concurrently, similar arguments are leveled against the U.S. embargo on Iran for its alleged breaches of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
U.S. Embargoes by Country
- Cuba: Broad trade restrictions in place since the Kennedy administration
- North Korea: Comprehensive embargo due to nuclear and missile activities
- Iran: Punitive measures relating to nuclear development and regional activities
- Syria: Embargo rooted in anti-terrorism objectives and civil war involvement
- Russia: Recent sanctions related to occupation of Ukrainian territory and ongoing conflict
Are Embargoes Effective?
Embargoes often succeed in punishing targeted nations more than enforcing policy changes. Nevertheless, their economic contributions, alongside other sanctions, have historically proven instrumental in pressuring actual policy shifts, as exemplified by the economic campaign against apartheid South Africa and recent impact on Russia.
Legal Foundations of U.S. Trade Embargoes
Embargoes by the U.S. stem from congressional legislation and presidential orders, primarily managed by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which also fields applications for embargo exemptions.
Related Terms: economic sanctions, trade restrictions, international trade, foreign policy.
References
- U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Sanctions Programs and Country Information”.
- Cambridge University Press. “The Secret Life of Statutes: A Century of the Trading With the Enemy Act”.
- U.S. House of Representatives. “50 USC Ch. 35: International Emergency Economic Powers”.
- U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Office of Foreign Assets Control - Sanctions Programs and Information”.
- U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. “Oil Embargo, 1973–1974”.
- Yale University Economic Growth Center. “Sanctions on South Africa: What Did They Do?”
- U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Ukraine-/Russia-Related Sanctions”.
- Reuters. “U.S. Official Says Export Curbs on Russia Hit Car Production and Tank Building”.
- American Friends Service Committee. “Quakers, Jews and Israel’s BDS Blacklist”.
- ADL. “The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Campaign (BDS)”.
- Middle East Research and Information Project. “The Enduring Lessons of the Iraq Sanctions”.
- Human Rights Watch. "‘Maximum Pressure’: U.S. Economic Sanctions Harm Iranians’ Right to Health".
- Princeton University. “OFAC Sanctioned Countries”.
