United States economic strength is integral to our nation's security and worldwide leadership. In an integrated, globalized economy, positive US economic engagement -- including the ability of
American farmers, workers and businesses to compete in emerging markets -- is central to our own economic prosperity and to the worldwide growth of democracy, freedom, and human
rights.
America has a vital interest in being a reliable supplier of cutting-edge technology,
infrastructure, manufactured products, services, agricultural commodities, and food products throughout the world. America's economic, diplomatic and strategic interests are compromised
by the imposition of unilateral economic sanctions for foreign policy reasons without full consideration of:
the costs to our nation's economy;
the damage to our security, commercial, and human rights, objectives;
the adverse impact on US ties with our closest allies, whose long-term cooperation and assistance are essential to building effective multilateral coalitions, in a crisis; and
the damage to US global competitiveness and investment policy arising from secondary boycotts and extra-territorial sanctions.
Unilateral Sanctions Don't Work
Unilateral sanctions threaten our future by ceding America's fastest-growing export markets to our foreign competitors and damaging the reputation of US manufacturers and farmers as
reliable suppliers. When the government takes US business and agriculture out of a market, it provides foreign suppliers a huge unearned advantage. Equally damaging are recent laws
restricting overseas operations of US companies and imposing secondary boycotts on our allies.
These actions can put American companies in a position where it is impossible to comply with both US and host country law. While working Americans pay the price, America gets hardly anything in return. In fact,
sanctions take away American's best tools for advancing human rights and democracy -- US political and economic engagement. At the same time, secondary boycotts have angered our closest allies, who support our security, foreign policy, and human rights goals, but object to
such measures as serious infringements of their sovereignty and violations of international law.
Ultimately, these sanctions discredit American diplomacy and leadership.
American values are best advanced by engagement of American business and agriculture in the world, not by ceding markets to foreign competition. Helping train workers, building roads,
telephone systems, and power plants in poorer nations, promoting free enterprise -- these activities improve the lives of people worldwide and support American values. Unfortunately the
real difference made by American companies and workers through such day-to-day activity is lost in the emotion of political debates, where there is pressure to make a symbolic gesture, even
if it won't work.
