Research On The Legal Response Of American Secondary Economic Sanctions

At present,with the continuous evolution of the multi-polar international situation,the competition between countries is increasingly fierce and the friction is escalating,among which the most used means of confrontation should be economic sanctions,secondary sanctions and so on.From the traditional economic sanctions and secondary sanctions and gradually derived secondary economic sanctions.Different from the traditional economic sanctions,which are mainly targeted at the target party,the secondary economic sanctions are mainly a means of economic sanctions against the primary target by taking restrictions on the third party countries,economies,enterprises and even individuals.At present,secondary economic sanctions are frequently used because of the heightened risks in the world political structure and economic situation.On the one hand,multilateral economic sanctions need to be jointly implemented by multiple countries.However,in the current multi-polar international situation,all countries want to retain the maximum autonomy and generally do not want to be entangled in it.Therefore,it is difficult to implement multilateral economic sanctions.On the other hand,unilateral economic sanctions are limited by the comprehensive national strength,economic strength,world status and other factors of the initiator country,so they have great limitations and limited effects.On this basis,the secondary economic sanctions emerged,which effectively avoided the shortcomings and limitations of the two,and the implementing country realized the largest economic,political,military and other benefits at the minimum cost.However,the implementation of secondary economic sanctions has a higher requirement for the implementing country,which has a decisive influence in the world in terms of economy,military,influence,comprehensive national strength and so on.At present,the world pattern is diversified.Only the United States,as one pole,has the ability to impose secondary economic sanctions in the economic and military aspects,while other countries are not yet able to impose secondary economic sanctions.Even if they do,they must be implemented with the support and help of the United States.In recent years,along with our country both in the military,the rapid development of economy,culture and so on,the speed of the high-speed development of our country got the western countries,especially America’s high attention,to contain China development became the central idea of some politicians,so secondary economic sanctions in China gradually rise,facing the international financial environment more and more bad.Secondary economic sanctions have a certain impact on the foreign business and even the economy of the whole Chinese enterprise.Therefore,the study of secondary economic sanctions is of great practical significance for the economic development of our country.As the only country in the world that can impose secondary economic sanctions,the United States also has strict procedures and legal provisions for imposing economic sanctions.It is usually carried out jointly by the President of the United States,the Department of Commerce,the Defense Trade Control Agency,the Department of Homeland Security,and the Office of Foreign Investment.The most widely known "Entity List" was developed by the United States End User Review Board(ERC)is responsible for review and column tube,the commission is not affiliated with a department,but mainly led by the us department of commerce,and by national defense,resources,finance and other departments of the representative offices,in the process of to increase or decrease the entity list,by the member units to discuss and vote,finally make a decision about entity list.At the same time,the United States has a relatively complete legal system for secondary economic sanctions,which is mainly composed of ordinary legislation,special sanctions act,administrative regulations,and the general executive order of the United States.It has a complete legal system but is extremely complex.The United States enacted relevant legislation on economic sanctions in the early period of the last century,typically the Trade with the Enemy Act issued at the beginning of the last century and the Emergency Economic Powers Act issued in the 1970 s.The existence of such federal legislation allows the United States to declare a state of emergency before the proposed imposition of secondary economic sanctions,and then to impose secondary economic sanctions on the target under the legislation.Taking the U.S.Entity List as an example,the United States generally goes through three procedures before adding a foreign company to the Entity List.In the first step,the United States declared a state of economic emergency in accordance with the Act of Emergency Economic Powers,which could also require the national trade department to supervise the entity,including measures such as freezing funds and restricting imports.Second,the End-User Review Committee reviews the executive order proposed in general,focusing on whether the entity complies with the provisions of the Act and whether it constitutes obscenity to the economic field or national security of the United States,and makes a conclusion.Finally,the Bureau of Industrial Security,a branch of the U.S.Department of Commerce,will place the entity on the Entity List based on the executive order of the President and the review results of the Review Board.The United States imposed secondary economic sanctions by relying on its world hegemony.Entities and countries subject to secondary economic sanctions can implement counter-sanctions programs from the level of domestic law and the level of international law.At the domestic law level,entities listed on the list of entities or facing high fines can file a constitutional review lawsuit in a country that imposes secondary economic sanctions,such as the United States,and the country that imposes secondary economic sanctions can enact blocking legislation in its own territory to eliminate the effect of secondary economic sanctions.In international law,countries can bring a case to the World Trade Organization or seek a reprimand from the United Nations General Assembly.As for the counter sanction measures at the level of domestic law,the country which is subject to the secondary economic sanction can enact the blocking legislation in its own territory to eliminate the effect of the secondary economic sanction.The classic example is blocking legislation in the European Union.Regarding the Helms-Burton Act,the EU adopted the Protection Regulation against the Extraterritorial Application of Third Country Acts(namely the Blocking Regulation)in 1996 in the same year,to eliminate,block and counter the Helms-Burton Act and other relevant laws within the jurisdiction of member states.The blocking regulations specifically presented in an appendix shall be prohibited in the eu to produce legal effect has the extraterritorial jurisdiction of foreign laws,these laws are all U.S.law,including the 1993 defense authorization act the Cuban democracy act the Cuban free democratic unity act the Iranian Libya sanctions act the Cuban assets control regulations,etc.Specific measures include prohibition of compliance,denial of judgment,right of recovery,reporting obligations,etc.In international law,a country subject to secondary economic sanctions can appeal to the World Trade Organization and seek multilateral relief.For example,in May 1996,the European Union filed a complaint through the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism against the Helms-Burton Act,a 1996 US secondary economic sanctions act against Cuba.The lawsuit alleges that the United States has violated its obligations under the World Trade Organization(WTO)agreement,including most-favored-nation treatment,national treatment,freedom of transit of goods,prohibition of import and export quantitative restrictions,and prohibition of discriminatory restrictions on import and export(EU v.United States Act of Solidarity for Freedom and Democracy in Cuba).Section 211 of the United States Consortium Appropriations Act of 1998 prohibits United States courts from recognizing or enforcing trademark claims filed by Cuban citizens or their heirs in connection with property of United States citizens confiscated by the Cuban Government.In May2000,the EU also filed a complaint with the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism against Section 211 of the 1998 Consolidated Appropriations Act enacted by the United States(E.U.v.United States of America,Section 211 of the 1998 Consolidated Appropriations Act).The Appellate Body report states that WTO members have the right to determine ownership standards for trademarks and trade names,and that Section 211 of the 1998 Consortium Appropriation Act violates national and most-favored nation treatment obligations established in the TRIPS Agreement.Moreover,at the level of international law,condemnation resolutions issued by the United Nations General Assembly are also a way of relief.After the Helms-Burton Act was passed,the General Assembly of the United Nations voted by an absolute majority to condemn the Helms-Burton Act,calling on the United States to repeal or repeal the Helms-Burton Act.After denying the legality of secondary sanctions by adopting resolution 51/22 in 1996,the General Assembly continued in 1998 by adopting resolution 53/10,stating that economic pressure on developing countries was contrary to the principle of peaceful coexistence of States.Therefore,Chinese entities,individuals and state institutions that are subject to the US secondary economic sanctions can also take appropriate countermeasures under domestic and international laws according to specific circumstances to minimize the negative effects of the US secondary economic sanctions against China.Firstly,this study elaborates the origin and development of secondary economic sanctions,clarifies the difference and origin between secondary economic sanctions and primary economic sanctions,classifies secondary economic sanctions specifically,clarifies the current development trend of secondary economic sanctions,and lays a theoretical foundation for future response and disposal.The second part focuses on the legal background of the secondary economic sanctions and demonstrates the current American hegemonism and its adverse effects on China.The third part demonstrates its illegality through the analysis of the practice and illegality of the US secondary economic sanctions,and thinks that the implementation of the secondary economic sanctions conflicts with the basic principles of the WTO through the analysis of examples.The fourth part mainly cites the examples of countries counteracting the US secondary economic sanctions to seek a breakthrough on how to deal with the US secondary economic sanctions in the next step.Finally,this paper analyzes the impact of secondary economic sanctions on China,and puts forward some suggestions on how to deal with secondary economic sanctions,such as formulating corresponding laws and regulations against secondary economic sanctions,clarifying self-adjudication clauses in bilateral investment treaties,and actively utilizing WTO dispute settlement mechanism.On this basis,this study,by combining qualitative and quantitative analysis,combined with the analysis of relevant cases,focuses on the illegality of secondary economic sanctions to demonstrate,and attempts to deepen and refine the analysis of this function and its effectiveness.Suggestions and directions are provided for the legal system construction and countermeasures of secondary economic sanctions in China.