U.S. Places Sanctions On Myanmar Ministries and Conglomerates
Protesters hold up pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained by the military junta on February 1. (Creative Commons)
The Biden Administration unveiled fresh trade sanctions on the Ministries of Defense and Home Affairs of Myanmar as well as two military business conglomerates, Myanmar Economic Corporation and Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited, on March 4. The administration implemented the trade restrictions a day after 38 people in Myanmar died while protesting the recent military coup.
Since then, protests in opposition to the coup d’état have erupted across the country, calling for the end of the militarily-appointed State Administration Council and the release of democratically-elected government leaders including former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. The Council has since responded with countermeasures such as the imposition of martial law, arbitrary arrests, and social media blackouts. According to United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, Myanmar police and military officers have killed 54 people and detained more than 1,700 others.
The international community has largely condemned the takeover and subsequent crackdowns, with countries including the United States imposing economic sanctions on the country. The Biden Administration imposed sanctions on ten individuals who are members of or associated with the Council, as well as three subsidiaries of a military conglomerate, on February 11.
The United States Department of Commerce, which initiated this latest round of sanctions, detailed its measures to restrict the trading capabilities of the Myanmar ministries and conglomerates in a press release on March 4. The Commerce Department will be imposing export controls, implementing more stringent trade regulations, and subjecting Myanmar to ‘military end use’ and ‘military end user’ restrictions under the Export Administration Regulations, resulting in licenses requirement for exports and re-exports of items intended for military use.
As part of their press release, the Commerce Department stated, “The United States remains fully committed to the people of [Myanmar and] will continue to hold perpetrators of the coup responsible for their actions.”
Yadanar Maung, a spokeswoman for Justice for Myanmar, an advocacy group, praised the sanctions but urged for more. In particular, she called for similar restrictions on the Transport and Communications Ministry, which she said was used “as window dressing for the military and security forces to acquire technology for surveillance and repression.”
“Comprehensive and targeted measures, including a global arms embargo, are essential to prevent the sale of arms and technology that will enable the military to sure up their brutal rule,” she said.
However, William Reinsch, a former Commerce Department official, disagrees. He claims that the insignificant amount of materiel exported by the United States to Myanmar, coupled with the minuscule amount already imported by the sanctioned entities, renders the measures ineffectual.
“The volume of trade is small so the impact won’t be big,” he said. “A bigger impact would be to go after the financial assets of the military leaders of the coup.”