24 October 1997
Agence France Presse

US Congress considers limits on unilateral sanctions

Representative Lee Hamilton's proposed law would call for a thorough investigation into the economic, diplomatic and political consequences of sanctions to avoid lawmaker called "knee-jerk unilateralism."

A similar measure was expected in the Senate.

The bill, which would not be retroactive, would automatically lift sanctions after two years except when the White House decides or Congress votes to extend them, the measure's authors said.

The bill is "not a red light for sanctions, but a yellow light, a caution light," said Hamilton, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives' International Relations committee.

US use of unilateral sanctions has increased over the last few years, Hamilton told the House Ways and Means Committee, adding that Washington has imposed or threatened to impose sanctions on more than 75 countries.

Among them, Hamilton listed the Helms-Burton and D'Amato laws, which aim to punish non-US companies that do business in Cuba or Iran and Libya, respectively, on which the United States has unilateral trade embargos.

In 1997, Congress has considered slapping sanctions on Nigeria, Turkey and Indonesia for human rights violations, on Mexico and Colombia for failing to cooperate fully in the fight against drug trafficking and on China, Sudan and Saudi Arabia for religious repression.

Unilateral sanctions should be a last resort, according to Hamilton, who said they were largely ineffective and expensive, costing the US economy between 15 and 19 billion dollars each year.

Undersecretary of State for Economic Affair Stuart Eizenstat said that "sanctions, particularly unilateral sanctions, need to be reviewed in a careful and deliberate way with a balancing of costs and benefits and only after other options have been exhausted." Eizenstat said the bill was "certainly moving in the right direction" in that "it is trying to urge the executive branch and the congressional arm of the government to take a more thorough look at sanctions before we leap into them."

Republican Senator Richard Lugar said US sanctions enable foreign companies to win contracts easily, limit dialogue with targeted countries and "create tensions with our friends and allies."

Arizona Republican Jim Kolbe criticized the yearly "certification" process that requires the White House to consider which countries -- particularly in Latin America -- cooperate fully with the fight against drug trafficking.

"Countries subject to review resent the judgmental, unilateral nature of our certification process," he said, adding that "rather than increasing cooperation, it creates political backlash against the United States."

"Unilateral sanctions are becoming an increasingly popular tool of foreign policy despite their limited utility. I think it is time we in Congress applied the brakes," Kolbe said.

The debate in Congress comes as the United States faces difficult talks with the European Union and Canada over Washington's potential imposition of sanctions on companies doing business in Cuba or Iran.

Companies based in five nations -- France, Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Canada -currently face sanctions under the D'Amato law that aims to punish corporations investing more than 20 million dollars in energy projects in Libya or Iran, two nations Washington says foster terrorism.

Ironically, only one hour after the bill to prevent unilateral sanctions was introduced, Congressional leaders proposed legislation calling for sanctions against Russian firms accused of supplying Iran with ballistic missiles technology.

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