• November 6, 2024

The Only Comprehensive Resource on U.S. Economic Sanctions

Congratulations Mr. President!

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You may have heard that I and few million other people voted for this guy, Barack Obama, back in November. Well I once again joined a few million people to welcome in our new President, Barack Obama, today. I figured it was a few blocks away from my apartment and was going to be a great moment in U.S. history, so I gladly braved the 20-some degree temperatures and the crowds to watch our 44th President take the oath of office.

As I stood there for four hours, I had plenty of time to reflect on U.S. sanctions programs. It seems obvious that we have seen the continuing strengthening of sanctions over our last two presidents. But what will the Obama administration bring to the world of U.S. sanctions programs?

My gut feeling is that we will see a continuation of the stronger sanctions trend, if not a significant increase in sanctions use. In my opinion what we have seen over the past 8 years is the militarization of foreign policy. I believe that Obama will try to reverse course on that trend and the use of sanctioning to deal with the traditional foreign policy challenges presented by such countries as Iran and North Korea will factor in as a major weapon of his new diplomatic approach.

Either way it should be an interesting four years. I congratulate President Obama, and hope that he exercises wise judgment in carrying out the duties of office.

Erich Ferrari

As the Founder and Principal of Ferrari & Associates, P.C., Mr. Ferrari represents U.S. and foreign corporations, financial institutions, exporters, insurers, as well as private individuals in trade compliance, regulatory licensing matters, and federal investigations and prosecutions. He frequently represents clients before the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and in federal courts around the country. With over 12 years of experience in national security law, exports control, and U.S. economic sanctions, he counsels across industry sectors representing parties in a wide range of matters from ensuring compliance to defending against federal prosecutions and pursuing federal appeals.

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