How Economic Sanctions Work

Economic sanctions are penalties levied against a country, its officials, or private citizens, either as punishment or in an effort to provide disincentives for the targeted policies and actions.

• Economic sanctions can range from travel bans and export restrictions to trade embargos and asset seizures.
• They provide a policy tool short of military force for punishing or forestalling objectionable actions.
• Economic sanctions can also be a blunt and ineffective policy tool, imposing insufficient costs on the targeted governments and disproportionate ones on their most vulnerable populations.

• Embargoes: broad bans on trading with a country
• Export controls bar the supply of specified products, services, and intellectual property to targeted countries
• Capital controls can restrict investment in targeted countries or industries, or broadly bar access to international capital markets for a country's issuers
• Trade sanctions can include import controls for specific countries, regions, or industries
• Asset freezes: Assets within sanctioning jurisdictions can be seized or frozen, preventing their sale or withdrawal
• Travel restrictions: Officials and private citizens, as well as immediate family members, may be denied travel access to sanctioning jurisdictions.